


Operation Unusual Paperwork

by kpmh2001



Series: The Men From Onyx Series [2]
Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms, RWBY
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:47:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 60,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27387439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kpmh2001/pseuds/kpmh2001
Summary: A side story containing all of the story exerpts, post chapter nonsense, and omakes that the world of The Men From Onyx has to offer, now in one convenient package! Warning: The tone and intention of these short stories will change on a by-chapter basis, tonal consistency is effectively not a consideration.
Series: The Men From Onyx Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2062722
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	1. "Philosophy"

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Men From Onyx](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21358282) by [kpmh2001](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kpmh2001/pseuds/kpmh2001). 



**Authors Note: If you're anything like me, you probably like reading about meaningless statistics for imaginary spaceships. As well, you also probably like less serious excerpts from a more traditionally serious story. As such, I present Operation Unusual Paperwork! A place for anything related to Men From Onyx that doesn't fit elsewhere.**

**This can include a lot of things, I've experimented with character bios in the past, which seemed well liked enough. Yet I would frequently find myself unwilling to put them after chapters as they tended to mess with pacing, omakes even more so. At some point (likely soon) all previous character bios and omakes (including "Bitches Love Spaceships") will be making their way here.**

**With that in mind, starting with a character bio didn't seem right, thankfully SardonicEffigy offered a far better alternative. So buckle your seatbelts and shut your faces as we observe the master at work.**

**This specific omake intended to be read parallel to Chapter 17 of The Men from Onyx, although future chapters may not have definitive placements or even canon status. (And sadly, this is not canon, at least, not in the same timeline as The Men From Onyx).**

* * *

**By**

**SardonicEffigy**

It was always a strange thing for Thomas, seeing the elite speak. It's mouth was never meant to use english and yet it found a way, it was a borderline impossibility but it happened nonetheless.

On more than one occasion it made him wonder if there was a larger power at play, a god guiding the universe down a certain path. How else would so many unlikely things happen?

Their own universe had been strange, and the one they were in now seemed even more so. It was truly awe inspiring…

There was a loud clang as Ben slammed his fist into the cell wall, denting it. "I don't care what you say, it's a lie!"

The elite seemed to be unphased by the act of aggression. "I speak only the truth demon, I am nothing but honest."

The two had been going back and forth for some time, their simple and short interrogation having turned into a long and drawn out endeavor.

"We both know the Covenant have technology millenia ahead of humanity, you mean to tell me it hasn't been done?" The Elite nodded its head, further displeasing the already irritated spartan. "How is that possible?!"

"Search your feelings, you know it to be true." It was strange, how the elite's voice could change tones so swiftly.

"You will tell me what I want to know, and you will tell me the secret to this technology." Ben's voice took on a somber tone. "Without it, we won't survive. We need it to properly adapt to this dimension, who knows what the consequences might be otherwise."

"What is it you want, demon?" The elite seemed as fed up with the games as the spartan.

"I want the truth." Ben's determination was unwavering.

"You can't handle the truth!" The elite stood from it's chair, standing only inches away from the spartan. "That technology was forbidden by the prophets for the danger it posed to our covenant."

"I want my cat girls damn it!" Ben's fire seemed to grow even stronger. "We both know its an intergalactic truth that all sentient species seek out this same ability." Thomas couldn't disagree. "You mean to tell me the prophets had the ability in their hands, purfection within their grasp, and they threw it aside?"

"When one achives purfection, what more is there to strive for?!" The elite gestured with it's hand off to the side. "Cat girls would have broken the covenant long ago!"

There was a pause between the two, a slowly building tension as neither seemed willing to speak. In the end, the sangheili spoke first. "We don't even know that it's possible, such purfection might very well ascend like the forerunners the instance it was created."

The elite brought one hand up, setting it on the spartans shoulder. "We may never be given the gift of seeing them with our own eyes, but we can still fight in their name." For a moment it seemed like he might cry… if that was even possible.

Ben looked up slowly. "They're on the planet below."

The sangheili stared into the helmet. "You lie…" Ben met its gaze, the elite gasped. "We have done it… we have completed the great journey!" He took a step back. "From one warrior to another, you must allow me to gaze upon them with my own eyes!"

Ben turned over his shoulder to look at Thomas, who shook his head no. It was crazy, trusting an elite. If he had his say the thing would never see the light of day again. He would never allow it out of this cell… let alone to the planet below, not with such purfection to be endangered.

Ben put his own hand on the elites shoulder. "I will see it done."

Thomas was in shock. "Wait! You cant just-"

But it was too late, they already had. He was the only one standing in the cell.

* * *

**Editors notes: well… that's a thing isn't it… yep… anyways, I hope it gave you all a good laugh. Let me know if not, so that I can adjust the sense of humour and satire, if you enjoyed it be certain to let me know so I can maybe make a sequel… purhaps...**

**Sincerely SardonicEffigy**


	2. "Some Unusually Usual Paperwork"

**Authors note: I received some negative feedback regarding my decision to "retcon" some specifics regarding the Charon Class Light Frigate, as well as its crew complement. I expected this, as a consistent habit amongst my readers I've picked up on is an intricate knowledge of Halo lore and it's expanded universe. In fact, one of my favorite things about this story that I've been able to do is not only discuss ways to improve the story with you, the readers, but also just talk about all things related to Halo lore.**

**I'll keep the justification short, but my central argument has two main components. First and foremost, the additional creative liberty offers me a lot more to work with in terms of what I can do with the Dominion. It's no secret I intend to explore naval combat with both the Dominion and it's complement of strike craft, and the existing lore has roadblocks that I have had serious difficulties working with. It also has a lot of gaps and questionable statements, which leads me to my second point, inconsistent lore regarding the Charon Class. Ever since the marketing campaign for Halo 4 started, the Forward Unto Dawn (a Charon Class) has been erroneously portrayed as a postwar Strident Class Heavy Frigate. This is because of a lot of reasons that frankly I find unsatisfactory (I suggest googling it for the curious, it's a prime example of bad art direction). and so I've attempted to find other sources where the Charon Class is portrayed as it was in Halo 3, and sadly I came up empty.**

**That being said, I fully intend to stay true to the Charon Classes purpose, size, and general power-level. The Charon represents a very plausible niche that could potentially emerge in a future, space-based navy, a combination of an escort frigate and a troop carrier. With all of that in mind, I've decided to share a little in-universe document with you, regarding my take on the specifics of the Dominion.**

**By kpmh2001**

_Dominion Archive:_

_Please present credentials_

…

…

…

_Credentials Verified_

_Authorization Code: Whiskey Sierra 42 Alpha_

…

…

_..._

_Access Granted._

_Select desired file_

_Accessing Perstat_

…

…

…

_Clearance Level Authorised_

_Loading Report_

Last refit report, UNSC Dominion, FFG-212

Authored by: MCPO Sorola

Edited by: PO1 Church

Site of Refit: Reyes-Mclees Shipyards

Duration of refit: August 1st-August 9th

Purpose: Inspection and equipment upgrades, minor repairs.

Summary: The Dominion has passed all requirements and is fit and able for any and all manner of mission. All damage sustained from combat in the Epsilon Eridani System has been repaired. Immediate assignment is recommended by myself and Lieutenant Church.

Weapon Systems:

1x 83B6R3 Mark II, light coil MAC (We managed to uncover the problem causing it's lowered maximum power storage, it should be operating at 100% efficiency now)

50x M58 Archer Missile Pod, twenty missiles per pod. Totaling one-thousand missiles. (Several autoloaders for the launch tubes needed total replacement)

10x M30 Trebuchet Orbital Support Missiles (I can't believe there's a ship in the fleet with these things, they're absolutely ancient)

3x Hyperion nuclear delivery system (software modifications made to ensure compliance with the latest safety requirements)

12x M870 Rampart 50mm point defense guns. (Autoloaders upgraded and streamlined, two faulty barrels replaced)

6x SOEIV rapid-reload launch tube. (Simulated test firings, fully operational.)

Defense Systems:

-Sixty centimeters of titanium-A armor plating minimum, critical supporting structures reinforced with additional plating and tungsten-layered chobham braces. (Armor examined, internal structural integrity at 96%, in good shape for a ship this old, damaged plating replaced)

-Mark V "Stonewall" cyberdefense suite.(Software modernized, several terminals replaced)

-M23 "Fairy" countermeasure launching mechanism. (Flares replaced)

-E4 "Blindfold" electronic countermeasure system. (Software updates, tertiary power supply replaced)

Other systems:

-G34 Data Storage System. (Other than a few datacubes loaded with contraband, this functioned fine)

-R77 generation sensor suite. (Dorsal communications dish needed replacement, atmospheric pressure sensors upgraded to latest model)

-CBRN defense and manipulation equipment (decontaminated, replaced several outdated HAZOP suits)

-Artificial gravity and life support. (fully operational)

-Antigravity systems. (Critical Power issue solved)

-V4/L-DFR Fusion Drive Assembly. (fully operational)

-Series IV CODEN Shaw Fujikawa Translight Engine (fully operational)

Currently attached units:

FFG-121 Naval Crew Complement (782 active personnel)

FFG-121 Logistics and Transportation Complement (Understaffed, active personnel, 80)

-2x D96 Troop Carrier, Equipment Transport "Albatross"

-6x D77H-TCI "Pelican" (half of the wing was reassigned, replacement Pelicans requested)

-4x D82-EST "Darter"

-2x Ev-44 "Nightingale"

333rd Air Assault Wing (48 active personnel)

-8x AV14 "Hornet"

-2x AV22 "Sparrowhawk"

-4x AC-220 "Vulture"

428th Tactical Fighter Wing (24 active personnel)

-8x YSS-1000 Space Superiority Fighter "Sabre" (Haven't gotten to see these yet, but they're more modular then I was led to believe, even if these ones are still outfitted for planetary defense.)

18th Marine Regiment, 3rd Battalion, Zulu Company, Six Active Platoons (250 active personnel, not including support staff)

Active Mechanized Vehicles:

-20x M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle "Warthog"

-10x M274 Ultra Light All Terrain Vehicle "Mongoose"

-4x M13 Snowmobile "Lynx"

-2 M313 Heavy Recovery Vehicle "Elephant" (both of these have undergone some field modifications to serve as groundside command posts. All modifications fall within acceptable guidelines)

18th Marine Regiment, 3rd Battalion, 3rd Armor Company, Three Active Platoons (Understaffed, active personnel, 128, including support personnel)

Active Armored Vehicles:

-4x M808B Main Battle Tank "Scorpion"

-2x M850 Main Battle Tank "Grizzly"

-2x SP42 "Cobra"

-4x M9 Main Anti Aircraft Tank "Wolverine"

Conclusion: UNSC Dominion is at top-readiness condition, recommend immediate d


	3. "Philosophy 2 Electric Boogaloo"

**Authors Note: The story grows...**

* * *

**By**

**SardonicEffigy**

Sand slammed against his robe, forcing him to clutch it tighter. The storm had blown in as they had made their journey towards the forgotten temple.

It had been weeks since they left Kuo Kuana. Even there he was an outcast. Only his two companions seemed to trust him. Even then, perhaps it was because they needed each other. A common quest and mission, a goal that they all sought out and yet none were capable of accomplishing on their own.

It was that common goal, purhaps, that saw them united. Only time would tell if the bond would hold beyond the quest.

His companion crested the sand dune they walked up, a rather large embankment that had sheltered them from the harshest of the winds, and fell to his knees. For a moment Set feared the worst. As he Crested the hill however, he could tell that it was reverence that guided his actions, not heatstroke.

His eyes fell to the only thing besides sand they had seen in days. The Temple of the Ancients was old, some said it stretched back to the time of the Brothers. Set had no idea who the Brothers were, but he assumed that meant a long time.

It was covered in sand on three sides, the only way he could identify it was by the entrance. A small section that had been spared the same fate by a large statue of some kind of Grimm that stood guard above it.

Ben cried out in relief and Set thought to join him. At long last, their perseverance, their faith, had been rewarded!

The legends of this place were many and stretched back impossibly long. Some said it held the power to summon the Brothers, others that it was the home of four sisters bound by a power beyond compare, another claimed it was created by a powerful Wizard to hide away powerful weapons.

But not one legend denied one inalienable truth, that the temple contained knowledge of extraordinary value. The Covenant had burned a thousand worlds in search of this knowledge and would have burned a thousand more in their quest for it. Yet here Set stood, on the cusp of gaining it himself.

All thanks to a Human and his A.I. companion.

Set owed the two a debt that could never be repaid.

As they walked towards the entrance his eyes rose up to the statue. It felt like it was judging them… and Set feared what it might find, unworthiness, a gap in his faith, purhaps?

 _My faith is strong, reaffirmed and unquestionable, let it judge!_ He definitely thought, he had come too far to be turned aside by a misshapen rock.

Set stared into the abyss that would have been its eyes, the abyss stared back. Whatever it found must have been enough, for the planet shook and the sand fell aside, revealing a doorway to the inside.

They entered in complete silence, each of them knowing words would only cheapen this event.

They walked through a long hallway lit by torches. Who had lit them? Set couldn't say. Purhaps it was magic, or some kind of science beyond his understanding. He was learning many things about this planet and its strange ways, neither result would have surprised him.

The long hallway opened up to a chamber that was far too large to fit within the temple they had seen from the surface.. Either they had descended, or there was trickery at play. Set cared not, however, as he approached the center of the room.

There on a pedestal was a small statue, and in its hands it held a scroll. The statue was of a woman and at first glance Set might have mistaken it for being human, the cat ears and tail that sat lazily behind it said otherwise.

Set felt happiness overwhelm him for the first time in he could remember, they had found it. If the statue alone wasn't clear enough, the fact that it was wearing a maid outfit only confirmed it.

Such things were surely only used for the purest and holiest of endeavors. He could imagine no situation in which such an outfit would not be seen as innocent and perfect, and yet somehow, it carried a very commanding aura.

His companion approached, pulling a small device out from his helmet. The A.I appeared a second later. Her display was much the same as normal, and yet it was different. She had taken an outfit similar to the statue, though she had yet to give herself such holy features as the ears and tail.

This pleased Set, knowing she was holding herself back for their sake… or purhaps she didn't have the power to do so, yet. Soon, they all would.

"It is real, and safe… from what I can tell." The waver in her voice did little to hold Set back as he approached.

He turned to his Spartan friend and looked into his helmet, the man nodded and stepped back slightly.

Set reached a hand out and grabbed the scroll, careful to keep his grip gentle. Once it was in his possession he turned so the spartan could see its contents and opened it slowly.

He didn't know how to describe the feeling that came over him. One moment he was looking at words on parchment, and the next his mind was swimming with new information. The next he knew the scroll was closed and back on its pedestal for the next pilgrims to find.

It mattered little, for they knew all it possessed. They knew how to make cat girls now… Set was giddy with anticipation.

"We have a long road ahead of us… Brother Ben." The moniker felt fitting.

"That we do Brother Set." The former Spartan turned around. "Let us depart, for there is much work to be done."

Set folded his hands under his robe. "That there is… that there is. Sister Curie, see what you find about this… relic of knowledge."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

" **Brother Kpmh… I have found a lost book of the sacred text!"**

" **Dont… dont call me that…"**

" **Brother Kpmh, we must share this at once!"**

***heavy sigh* "Why are you like this… and why do I approve of this?"**


	4. "Why Germans?"

**By Kpmh2001**

**UNSC Dominion, The War Room**

Commander Richard was a very busy man, but he still found a way to make room for the important questions.

"Lieutenant, I have a quick question." Richard stated, fetching Bradford's attention for what he was writing. It was somewhat amusing that the older officer still held so rigidly to using physical paper, but also somewhat irritating, as it added to the clutter of the War Room.

"Go right ahead." Bradford said. "This report is going nowhere anyway..."

 _That's relatable._ Richard thought. "Why are all of our assigned Call Signs for SDC positions named after Germans?"

"Because, some of these names are a bit ludicrous." Bradford replied, before passing over the paper he was working on. "Actually, this is a good example, have a look."

Richard took one look at where he was pointing. "Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgo... what?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought too." Bradford replied. "That's the name of a road, Curie says it's Welsh, although quite how that exists when everyone speaks Basic English... that's beyond me."

"That's Welsh?!" Richard demanded. "Look at how many characters it has!"

"And now you understand our frustration. Obviously we were going to implement callsigns for the sake of brevity. Lieutenant Thomas suggested that we use the names of Historical Germans... preferably those we can pronounce without choking on our own tongues."

The holotable flickered, before Curie's form emerged. "...I objected, as it seems that Atlas's culture is far more Nordic than Germanic. Although it certainly has an abundance of cultural influences..."

 _Wait, what?_ Richard thought, Curie's comment only adding further confusion.

"Have you seen the size of their military? Or their history, hell, even their foreign policies?" Bradford asked incredulously. "They couldn't be more German if you changed the flag!"

"I have, and all of those are in line with old Nordic culture." Curie stated. "Might I add, all of those things fall in line with basic human nature, not just German cultural influence."

 _Ah, apparently there was some debate here._ Richard realized.

"Nordic culture... are you trying to imply that Sweden once took over most of Europe?" Bradford countered.

Curie's expression flickered to one of displeasure. "Well, perhaps not all of it. Have you not read about Gustavus Adolphus?"

"Forgive me if I've been a bit too busy to catch up on my history lessons." Bradford retorted. "I was just thinking that we shouldn't go naming Slaver Camps after yoga moves."

Curie looked genuinely angry for one of the first times Richard could remember. "Just because you lack respect for the French language-"

"Both of you, no fighting in the war room!" Richard commanded, frustrated with how his simple question was rapidly reigniting a pointless debate. "I really don't care how the hell you classify them, as long as whatever you pick is in line with brevity code! You don't need to assign pointless thematics to everything!"

Curie and Bradford both nodded, but it was Bradford who spoke. "Did you try telling that to the pilots?"

"I let them get away with the wizardry-related callsigns because I thought there was little harm in it, plus, it's quite clever." Richard replied. "Besides, names aren't that important, as long as you can pronounce them."

Curie gained a devious look. "Is that why you insist that everyone refer to you as Richard?"

"There are too many Millers!" Richard protested, surprised by her low blow. "There were Fifteen people at Camp Currahee with the last name Miller, I feel like I'm justified with my frustration!"

"Why not 'Dick'?" Bradford asked jokingly.

"There isn't a single letter in 'Dick' that lines up with 'Richard'!" he countered. "If I wanted everyone to call me 'Commander Dick', I feel like the Navy would have some concerns with my transfer request!"

"The 'I' remains in the same place, actually." Curie cheekily pointed out.

Richard leveled a finger at her in frustration, although a smile now adorned his face. "You should know better than to poke fun at me, I took French!"

"Commander, it's not hard to make fun of the French." Bradford pointed out, which earned a chuckle from him, Curie huffed in protest.

"France invented the Conical bullet, Smokeless Powder, the Metric System, even the eventual pattern of the Tank! You make fun of them, but they certainly achieved a lot!" Curie protested.

"You talk about France's intellect, but Germany cut through Belgium three times before they figured out how to avoid it. Oh wait, they didn't, they got integrated into the U.E.G and ceased to exist." Bradford countered.

 _Goddamn, I forgot about the first time that happened._ Richard thought with a chuckle. "Hey now, I thought you were born in the Americas, I figured you'd not want to go that route."

Curie grinned devilishly. "Oh yes, shall we discuss their defeat in the Vietnam War?"

"You lost first!" Bradford protested.

"At least we admitted it to ourselves." Curie countered, to which Bradford only sputtered.

"How... how dare you! America never lost a war!" he eventually summoned.

"Red Cloud's War, the First and Second American Civil war, and-" Curie began.

"Oh come on, the second one didn't count! That was just part of the Rainforest Wars!" Bradford protested.

 _Ok, this has been fun, but maybe we should draw this to a close._ Richard thought. "Hey, no matter what old country we all can trace ourselves to, we're all getting our butts kicked by the Covenant."

"Give me an M1 and let's change that." Bradford muttered.

"The Halftrack? Or the Rifle, or maybe the Submachine Gun? Perhaps you meant the helmet, or the-" Curie began.

"Curie, please, we should get back to work." Richard interrupted.

She grinned. "I happily accept your surrender."

Her hologram vanished before either of them could issue a counterargument.

**Author's note: Sometimes I get ideas for short little omakes, most of the time I never complete them, but this time, I decided to go along with it. Let me know what you thought.**


	5. "Unusually Useful Paperwork"

**By Kpmh2001**

**Dominion Archive:**

**Please Insert Credentials**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**Credentials Verified**

**Authorization Code: Kilo Hotel Epsilon Sierra Four Niner**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**Access granted**

**Select Desired File**

**Done, accessing report**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**Clearance level authorized**

**loading report**

**Title: A Complete Report on All Scientific Anomalies Observed Following The Onyx Slipspace** **Anomaly**

**Authored by: UNSC A.I CUR-02102 "Curie"**

**Section One: Introduction**

**Page 1 of 12367**

Hello Commander, I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors included in this report. I declined Lieutenant Chen's offer to edit it, as it would take her months to carefully examine a document of this size. This report is already considerably bloated in size, and is only likely to grow, as we continue to encounter dozens of new anomalies on a daily basis.

For the sake of brevity and to minimize the time needed to properly educate our staff, I have prepared briefing packages relevant to all remaining UNSC personnel, and they can be distributed to the relevant recipients upon your request. I would strongly advise contacting me before allowing any other personnel access to this report, as some of the contents either pose security risks, or otherwise sensitive information.

The first two-hundred pages of this document contain a brief summarization of all relevant data to our immediate strategic situation, and as time-consuming as it will be, I strongly advise reading at least that far into this document. Our initial assessment of Remnant's tactical hindrances and overall situation have considerable flaws, which I have attempted to update and correct to the best of my abilities.

**Section Two: Physics Based Anomalies**

Without a doubt the most unusual example of Remnant's Non-Newtonian nature are what I have dubbed "regional anomalies". The effects and size of these regions varies dramatically, and can include, but are not limited to:

-Anomalous shifts in gravitational forces (only sometimes accompanied by temporal anomalies, seemingly in spite of relativity)

-Total gravitational failure (Remnant's Moon appears to be the only example of this, as of right now, I cannot explain why)

-Chemical reactions that defy known laws of chemistry. In particular, Dust has a number of unusual reactions, both in and out of atmosphere.

-Lethal radiation pockets, in spite of a lack of radioactive material. (From what I have seen, these regions remain entirely undiscovered by the local inhabitants)

-Complete lack of tectonic activity in areas that should be dramatically unsafe. (The continent of Anima especially should be experiencing near-constant earthquakes, based on what information I have gathered so far.

-Dramatically accelerated crop growth, occasionally leading to cataclysmic and potentially lethal mutations. (See section fourty-four for further details)

-Spontaneous Grimm appearance (orbital reconnaissance suggested)

-Astronavigation hazards (See section fifty-five for further details)

-Semblance Generated Anomalous Regions (See section two for further details)

I believe that Sergeant Benjamin worded my thoughts considerably better than I could when he stated that "This planet is a goddamn nightmare". Needless to say, almost every scientific law has been called into question, and I have submitted multiple requests to collaborate with Remnant's universities already, which await your response.

My working theory states that Newtonian Physics remains universal laws of science, with all of the anomalies we have witnessed caused by undiscovered elements and possibly even undiscovered laws of fundamental physics. We must be cautious to avoid some of these hazardous environments, as their effects on the safety and operational capability of our troops could be catastrophic. To counter this, we should consider deploying our troops with HAZOP suits and thruster packs on a mission-specific basis.

Further information on this topic is provided on page 3443-3924.

**Section Two: Aura and Semblances**

We have completely underestimated the strategic value of Aura, and misunderstood the purpose and function of Semblances. Properly outfitting all of our personnel with Aura and beginning preliminary training in its operation should be a priority objective. The potential increase in individual unit survivability and combat capabilities is immense, and could potentially alleviate many of the concerns that we have on the battlefield.

By now, you already know about the defensive value offered passively by most Auras. Some users seem to require conscious thought to trigger their defenses, although that requires further research. As I speculated, this defensive barrier varies dramatically in terms of strength, dependent on the operator's own "Aura Reservoir". It also appears to differ in color by individual, but this has little tactical relevance.

Until recently, I have been unaware of some of Auras other effects. Note that most of these require a considerable amount of training, to the point that most Specialists, Huntsmen, and Huntresses begin their combat training as children. Unlike back home, this appears to only bear negligible ethical concerns (many of the locals practice live gladiatorial combat between the best of these children in a tournament format, some notable video samples are included on page three-four-three). I cannot predict how they would react to the true extent of the Spartan programs, were it ever revealed.

The additional abilities of Aura, however, remain the primary concern. These include but are not limited to:

-Accelerated regenerative properties, confirmed with Specialist Schnee's assistance in treating our wounded.

-Resistance, and in certain cases, complete immunity to disease.

-Protection of weapons and equipment by using said items as "conduits" for Aura, although the strength of this protection varies.

-Increased athletic and cardiovascular capabilities. (some individuals have been rated at accomplishments that would rival the capabilities of Spartans, although these are extreme cases)

-Enhanced Perception (effect varies by individual, and is sometimes tied to the user's Semblance).

-Environmental protection, including sonic, thermal, and natural kinetic impacts (radiation shielding untested but probable).

-The ability to prevent weapon or tool malfunctions, although this apparently requires some practice and ample familiarity with the weapon.

There is one final capability of Aura that demands immediate expansion upon, and that is the enhanced offensive capabilities of the user. At the cost of a small amount of the user's Aura Reservoir, they can increase the capabilities of some weapons, unarmed attacks, and operate offensive Semblances. These effects appear to be dependent on the capabilities of the base weapon (or lack thereof) in order to determine the resulting effect, examples include:

-Increased velocity and stopping power of conventional firearms.

-The ability to carve through solid steel armor plating up to seven millimeters thick with a common blade (although it is likely that an attack could carve through more is so desired)

-Increased destructive output from energy weapons, likely by increasing thermal output.

-Amplifying the kinetic impact of unarmed attacks, including dramatic impacts on some forms of Martial Arts.

-Operation of certain Semblances in an offensive manner.

My final example demands a further explanation onto the concept of a "Semblance". For the sake of brevity, and a lack of a better explanation, I shall paraphrase our Huntress Ally, Margaret "Mags" Jackson.

"A Semblance is like a personal ability that all Aura users have, a superpower, if you will. For the most part, they're unique, but similar Semblances aren't unheard of. Mine is saltwater manipulation, which means I can use my Aura to make it do what I want."

Needless to say, I was dramatically unsatisfied with this explanation. While I cannot find anything definitively incorrect with her statement, that shall not stop me from conducting further investigation. For the time being, I would advise extreme caution from our Marines, as the potential for casualties is currently considerable. I have attempted to scour the CCTS and captured SDC records for additional information, and have gathered some notable examples of Semblances here:

-Pyrokinesis

-Telekinesis

-Weather Manipulation

-Dramatically enhanced reflexes (The enemy Specialist from Point Wilhelm, Adrian, seems to possess a Semblance similar to this)

-Glyphs. As explained by Specialist Schnee, this semblance is unique not just in it's capabilities, but in the fact that it is hereditary. Using what I can only describe as magic, she is able to manipulate spacetime, amplify kinetic, thermal, and even gravitational forces. She also has the capability to summon ethereal copies of any enemy she's defeated, although this function does not work on any being with a soul (presumably anything capable of generating an Aura).

-Impact deflection/Redirection/Amplification

Although all individuals apparently have a unique Semblance, similar or even seemingly identical Semblances are fairly common. I currently have no reason to doubt that all UNSC personnel have a Semblance, although actually finding out what those Semblances are and how they work will be a greater challenge.

**Section Three: Robotics and Artificial Intelligence**

The Kingdom of Atlas remains the sole operator of Artificial Intelligence in any meaningful status. As of current, Remnant has not developed the technology or even scientific theory required to create a "Smart" A.I. There have been attempts to create an A.I with an artificial Aura, and thus, a soul, although these have apparently been met with failure.

Their "Dumb" A.I, however, appear to have impressive capabilities given the limited hardware that they have to work with. That being said, they remain primitive by modern standards, and even rudimentary programming from our systems can overload them if not operated carefully.

What is certainly impressive is how Atlesian scientists have used the anomalous materials at their disposal to create some very impressive combat-oriented mechs. While modifications back home have allowed for the Cyclops and even the Mantis to perform combat duties, their performance has always been limited by several laws of physics, most notably the square-cube law.

On Remnant however, physics did not stop Atlesian scientists from producing armored combat units of varying size and lethality. These range from the modern and heavily armed Paladin all the way to the appropriately named "Colossus", an unwieldy and outdated monolith comparable to the obsolete United Nations Dreadnoughts of the 23rd Century. These mechs are all controlled by human operators via complex controls, although converting them to operate via neural interfaces would likely be a somewhat simple conversion.

If we find ourselves required to destroy these units in combat, I would advise using many of the strategies employed against legged Covenant vehicles. Targeting joints and using armor-piercing ammunition to disable any offensive subsystems. Although some mechs appear to be equipped with hard-light Dust shielding, these defenses can be brought down with energy weapons or even coordinated infantry fire should the need arise.

But Atlas has also employed another technology that strikes me as particularly hazardous, self-operated combat androids. Now, I should clarify that there is little to no risk of something as preposterous as an A.I rebellion (I would certainly hesitate to call the systems used in these androids "intelligent"), but that does not mean that these units are without considerable risk. Accounting for signal delay, my intrusion software achieved total control of the robots in less than half a second, where I was free to manipulate them to target whatever I wanted them too.

Interestingly, it appears that the drones employed by the SDC have undergone some form rapid modification, as when I attempt to gain control of the units, they self-destruct. I would strongly advise that this same asset-denial software is put to use in mainline Atlesian units as soon as possible, as the risk for electronic intrusion by terrorists or otherwise is extreme, and the potential civilian losses from such an attack could be catastrophic. Attached on page 73 are some examples of my intrusion attempts, these have been sterilized of all sensitive data, and you may be able to use these to convince General Ironwood of the threat.

Finally, it appears that most of these combat drones (particularly those equipped with traditional ballistic weaponry) carry extremely minimal ammunition supplies, offering some explanation as to why Atlas may have such a fascination with laser weapons. This also has the somewhat amusing side-effect of most drones being equipped with melee weapons, as well as a preference to use them whenever possible. Needless to say, our Marines should be able to dispatch these robots with ease, specific vulnerabilities of all models of mech and combat drones may be found on page 987.

 **Additional note:** Remnant's advanced robotics field also means that their prosthetic limb development is extremely impressive. I make no hyperbole when I say that there are many things that our doctors could learn from them in this field. Of course, the limitations in their industrial machinery mean that some aspects of their prosthetics are still far behind ours.

**Section Four: The Remnant System and immediate Strategic resources**

Undoubtedly one of our most significant and unique capabilities at our disposal is the ability to exit the atmosphere at will, something never achieved in Remnant's history in spite of numerous attempts. Lieutenant Chen is still compiling a list of all known astronavigation data from Remnant's scientific institutions, and that particular assignment will likely take her months, given the vast quantity of study that will need to be preformed on this star-system and its neighbors.

There are three celestial bodies that I believe currently pose relevance to the immediate strategic situation. Remnant, Remnant's Moon (Contrary to my expectations, it is quite literally named "Moon"), and a cluster of forty-five asteroids that have assembled at Remnant-Moon Lagrange Four. Remnant's immediate relevance is far too complex to cover in this segment alone, so I would direct you to the rest of the report for further reading. Remnant's Moon, however, presents unique strategic and tactical opportunities.

A cursory analysis of the Moon reveals that the cataclysmic event that splintered it into its current situation likely happened around four-thousand years ago. Whatever happened, it carried the unbelievably devastating consequences of instituting a field of total gravitational failure that now surrounds the Moon, ranging anywhere from one-hundred to two-thousand kilometers away from the surface of the body. The temporal and relativistic consequences of this are currently unclear, and as such, we should avoid sending any sort of manned expedition into the field for the time being. Unmanned, disposable drones are probably our best bet, although any drones lost to collision or malfunction would still need to be replaced.

The amount of valuable material that comprises the Moon's content is astonishing. This single celestial body could likely fuel a massive spacefaring industry, that is, if we discovered a way to safely navigate it and harvest the materials. Until we can find a way to avoid the dangerous relativistic anomalies of the region, it serves to offer us little more than questions.

If we for whatever reason need to acquire precious metals, we would be far better off looking to the so-called "Rabbit's Foot" asteroid field located at Remnant-Moon Lagrange Four. Lieutenant Gage coined the name unintentionally, inspired by the lucky nature of the discovery. These asteroids contain a large amount of valuable metals and materials. Of particular note, Dust and Platinum Group metals are thankfully abundant, and as we are the only ones who can exploit them, I would suggest keeping them in mind should we ever need a substantial economic asset.


	6. "We've all run the simulations..."

**By Kpmh2001**

**UNSC Dominion**

**Marine Barracks**

In Winter's eyes, the two most mysterious people on the Dominion were Ben and Jorge, the only "Spartans" aboard. They were unflinchingly focused, disciplined, and acted more like machines than people. They were like the personification of the cold efficiency that the UNSC represented, a bland, emotionless machine of war, built to ensure humanity's survival against any opponent. In a way, there were a bit disturbing, although Winter wouldn't say that she was afraid of them.

Every Marine, Navymen, and Officer that she had seen so far had in some way done something not related to their duties. Sometimes it was something simple like writing in a journal, or telling jokes around the coffee-maker, but the Spartans never did anything of the sort. They were methodically focused on whatever task was in front of them, and if they weren't working, they were sleeping.

Even their bodies were deeply unusual. Lieutenant Jorge stood at a truly great seven-foot four-inches in his armor, and Sergeant Benjamin was only a hair shorter. While the armor apparently added a few inches, they apparently weren't much shorter when they weren't wearing it. Not that Winter would have been able to guess that, as she'd never seen the Spartans without their suits. Benjamin in particular seemed to sleep in his armor, something that Winter couldn't imagine was very comfortable.

Strange or not, they were certainly impressive soldiers. One of the Marines had claimed that they could flip a talk if it was upside down, and she didn't sound like she was joking. That being said, she had also quickly learned to take the idle murmurs of the Marines with a healthy degree of skepticism.

 _They have such bizarre senses of humor..._ Winter thought.

Still, the Marines were certainly a jovial bunch. Winter had met plenty of Atlesian squads before, and none of them seemed so genuinely enthusiastic about their lives. They joked, played games, played pranks on one another, it was all the exact opposite of what she had expected. She had expected most of the Marines to act like the Spartans, and given that they didn't, it made the armored soldiers all the more unnerving. Learning that Benjamin in particular had taken on a corrupted Huntsmen and won inspired a bit of concern within Winter.

 _And not only did he win, but from what Adrian explained, apparently he did so fairly effortlessly._ Winter thought. Commander Richard had authorized her to interrogate the rogue Huntsman that had been captured in Atlas, and what little he had shared was mostly related to how he had been captured. _What exactly makes the Spartans so strong?_

Winter found her mixed feelings on the Spartans thrown into question once she learned about their weakened Auras from the other Huntress aboard the Dominion, a young Faunus woman named Mags. She'd compared the Spartan's Auras to those of a trapped animal, which painted a far different picture than the somewhat mellow and strictly professional attitudes that Winter had seen from them. The more she thought about it, the more curious Winter became. What really was a Spartan, and why were they so revered by the rest of the Dominion's crew? Even the more reserved Officers on the Bridge like Lieutenant Chen had shown them a great degree of respect.

 _Maybe I should just ask her._ Winter thought. _I'm sure she'll answer my question, at least partially._

Lieutenant Chen was a very polite and professional woman that Winter had quickly learned to respect. Unfortunately, her numerous duties had meant that Winter hadn't had too many opportunities to speak with her. She decided to wait until the Lieutenant was away from her duties, which thankfully didn't take an unreasonable amount of time. The long wait for the coffee machine as it worked offered Winter a moment to ask the potentially controversial question.

"Excuse me Lieutenant." Winter began as she joined the Officer by the counter. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

Chen gave an unexpected chuckle. "No, I don't know when we're getting the coffee from Menagerie. Believe me, we're all eager to stop drinking this ancient stuff."

 _It cannot be soon enough._ Winter thought in solemn agreement, before getting back on track. "Actually, I wanted to ask about the Spartans."

Chen's humored expression was immediately replaced with one of understanding. "Ah, I see. Well, I'll tell you what I can, but I'll warn you, it isn't much."

Winter had expected that, it seemed like the UNSC loved to decorate their files with black ink, even more than the Atlesian Military did. "I wasn't looking for any real specifics, I just wanted to know what makes them so..."

"Special? Yeah, I didn't really buy into the hype either." Chen said, not directly answering her question. "But then I saw all the combat footage from Draco III... yeah, I know when to admit I'm wrong."

Winter read into the context behind Chen's statement. "They must have performed exceptionally well."

"Very large understatement." Chen said, gesturing to emphasize the strength of her point. "There couldn't have been more than twenty of them, and they swept up an entire Covenant Army. Damn good thing too, the losses before they showed up were... extreme."

Chen suddenly gained a far-away look in her eyes, one that Winter had grown accustomed to seeing from the UNSC. It seemed that the war with the Covenant had wrought horrors that nobody could avoid.

Hoping to snap Chen out of her stupor, Winter persisted, trying to get them back on track. "What exactly is a Spartan, what makes them so strong?"

Chen shook her head clear. "I guess the best way I can describe them is that the Spartans are kind of like your Huntsmen, except pushed to every extreme."

"What do you mean?" Winter asked.

"To quote all of the ONI propaganda, they're the best of the best." Chen explained. "Power armor, the latest weapons, and some apparently rather brutal training all rolled into one really impressive special forces package."

 _That would certainly explain how they can stand toe to toe with former Huntsmen._ Winter thought, well aware that particular feat had been achieved without Aura. B _ut not how they can move so quickly in such a bulky suit._

"I think I understand, thank you." Winter said.

"Anytime Specialist, if you have any more questions, I suggest you just ask Jorge, he's pretty friendly." Chen said, before she seemed to remember something. "Now that I think about it, they have some time in the Simulators scheduled for later. If you'd like, I could ask Gillespie to slot you in with them."

"The Simulators?" Winter asked. It seemed that she still had more to learn about the Dominion.

Chen grew a small smile as she realized Winter's lack of understanding. "Virtual Reality combat simulations, good for keeping the troops sharp, although I don't know why the Spartans would need them."

Winter thought it over for a moment, the idea of something like an artificial reality training system certainly intrigued her. "Very well, I accept your offer."

**Later that day...**

_This was a terrible mistake._ Winter thought as she settled into one of the Simulator chairs. Far from what she had expected, it was a large, bulky contraption, apparently powered by some kind of massive computer.

"Cold feet?" Ben asked from the chair next to her, apparently noticing her nervousness. "You can back out now, if you'd like."

"I think I'll manage just fine, thank you." Winter snapped back, before a technician lowered a frankly absurd-looking helmet onto her head, and everything went black. Still, she was fully awake, but she could no longer feel the helmet on her head, as it began to activate it's functions.

Since Winter didn't have a Neural Interface, she would have to wear what was called "The Bucket" by the Simulator technicians. Apparently it used a set of screens, speakers, and a set of very complex brainwave altering systems that she didn't fully understand to create a convincing representation of something that wasn't actually there. Originally, Winter had been somewhat skeptical that such a thing was safe, and whether or not the UNSC would be putting any unwanted thoughts in her brain. Thankfully, the technicians explained to her that it was all a very complex illusion, she could take the helmet off at any time she wanted too, and it wouldn't control her brain.

 _I get the feeling they were pulling my leg with that last remark._ Winter thought.

"Okay Specialist, we're gonna bring everything online now." The muddled voice of one of the technicians sounded in her ear. "Let us know if anything looks out of place, remember, these things ain't really built with Huntresses in mind, we're still ironing out some bugs."

The environment loaded in around her, and Winter found herself in a ruined futuristic city. Fire scorched the high-rising building, abandoned cars littered the streets, and corpses decorated the sidewalks. The attention to detail was spectacular, if a bit gruesome and unnerving. Rain pattered on the ground around her, and a dark, starless sky rested above, with only broken streetlights and burning fires to light their way.

 _This is what their worlds look like?_ Winter thought, admiring some of the more standout details. At first, she thought that she spotted a Job Board, similar to those on Remnant, but apparently it was actually a Kiosk for tourists.

"Keep it clean! Respect, public property!" The A.I system told her, blissfully unaware that the city was on fire all around it. He and Ben were standing beside her, holding a large belt-fed machine gun and a heavy sniper rifle respectively.

"Everything look good Specialist?" Jorge asked. She was slightly startled to find him and Ben standing beside her, she hadn't even noticed them load in.

"...Yeah, well, in a technical aspect." Winter answered. "So, this is what your war back home looks like?"

Jorge and Ben exchanged an awkward, silent glare, before Jorge softly spoke. "It's worse in person ma'am, much worse."

Winter nodded, that made sense, none of this was real, but it was impressively recreated.

"Ok ma'am, we're ready to begin on your signal." The muddled voice of the technician came through again. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, I believe I am." Winter confirmed, reaching down to her belt and drawing her blade. She saw a faint flicker in the light as she did so, a reminder that the program she was using was probably not meant to render swords. "What are our orders?"

Ben and Jorge both looked to the sky, before a voice boomed throughout the city streets. "Firefight!"

"Ah, a simple one. For Firefight, we kill the enemy until there are no longer enemies to kill." Ben bluntly explained.

 _A simple battle, that's probably a good place to_ start. Winter thought.

Jorge swept his eyes over the arena that they had been loaded into. "We'll need to split up, cover the Crater from multiple angles."

Winter did her own examination, and found his assessment to be a good one. The arena was centered around a large depression in the soil that seemed to serve as a sort of city park. In all four corners, a stairway led up the crater, permitting access to both the road and a small patio for some sort of building.

"Sergeant, grab a position on the street. Specialist, come with me, we're going to hold the hill." Jorge instructed.

"Yes Sir!" They both confirmed.

Ben took a position on top of a bus stop, deploying his rifle to cover both the road and teammates. Jorge led her over to the small patio, where he found a good position to set up his heavy weapon. Then, just as Winter was starting to think that maybe something was wrong with the simulation, a faint, otherworldly sound filled the air. The sound quickly became louder, before the source revealed itself to, a unusual purple aircraft that drifted lazily into the air above them.

"Phantom, grab some cover!" Jorge instructed, before the alien dropship aimed what Winter recognized as a cannon at them, and began to fire bolts of pink energy down at them.

Winter did as he instructed, deftly dodging the bolts of plasma as they landed around them. It seemed that Jorge was barely inconvenienced by the massive weight of his weapon, and he was just as capable of grabbing cover behind a large concrete support pillar. The bolts of plasma that missed them ate away at the ground where they struck, sometimes causing small fires.

A quartet of deafening gunshots sounded from across the crater, before the whine of plasma fire was stopped. Winter saw trails of smoke emanating from Ben's position, and the turret on the enemy dropship had been mangled into a dysfunctional mess.

 _Impressive._ Winter thought, surprised at the destruction that had been caused by a simple sniper rifle.

"Here they come!" Jorge warned. Large hatches on both sides of the Phantom opened, and hostile aliens leapt to kill the human defenders.

They came in all shapes and sizes. There were Elites like the one in the Dominion's brig, small reptilian bipeds that waddled around with giant backpacks, and avian creatures carrying pistols and bearing circular energy shields. They all touched down onto the surface in the Courtyard, before Jorge opened fire, causing them all to spring into action. The shorter aliens began to waddle towards the stairs, supported by the larger Elites.

"Ben, knock out the jackals!" Jorge instructed over the din of his machine gun. "Winter, pick off any that get isolated!"

"With pleasure." She coolly replied, eager to test her skills against the extraterrestrial invaders. Gunfire and a powerful explosion sounded around her as she leapt over the edge of the crater and into the fight.

With the aid of a Speed Glyph beneath her feet, she lunged forward, sword extended. The aliens fired at her, but were unable to hit her as she employed a series of defensive Glyphs before her to absorb or redirect their admittedly terrifying plasma weapons. Winter didn't know if getting hit in the Simulators hurt, and she wasn't eager to find out. She charged at the first Elite, delivering a series of slashes and stabs that tore the alien's shields down. A quick slice through the throat and a quick jab in the brain finished the job. She had no sympathy for the genocidal monsters, and even in a simulation, she had no qualms about killing them.

As the first Elite fell dead, Winter took her first hit as she was shot in the gut by what looked like some kind of green laser. It was fired out of some kind of long pink rifle, and felt more like getting hit with a bullet. Although it hurt, it was more comparable to a bee sting than a truly lethal impact.

 _I suppose they toned it down, I wonder why?_ Winter thought, before summoning another Glyph under the next Elite and it's Jackal companion.

A pillar of flame erupted from the Glyph, damaging the Elites shields and torching the Jackal into a crispy mess. A single bullet whizzed through the fire, and perforated the Elite's skull.

"Thanks for weakening that one." Ben called out.

Noticing the strange absence of gunfire, Winter turned and was surprised to see that the rest of the aliens were already dead. The stubby Grunts lay mangled in pools of blood and their equipment, while the Jackals all lay dead, each with a single hole in the head.

"Well that was... fast." Winter noted.

"That was the first wave." Jorge bluntly replied, a single nod of the helmet punctuating his point.

 _I see._ Winter thought, taking a moment to shake the alien blood off of her sword. _A challenge of endurance._

More aliens came, and Winter rapidly learned what distinguished them, and how to kill them. Brutes were vulnerable to fire and powerful explosions. Grunts, Jackals, Drones, and Skirmishers died with simple sword strikes, especially to the head. Elites were a bigger challenge, especially when they brought their own swords, which Jorge warned her would burn through her weapon just as fast as they would through flesh and Aura. But deft dodges and well-timed strikes with her Semblance managed to bring them down.

More vehicles came as well. Phantoms and Spirits were largely untouchable, although Winter did learn that by targeting the engine assembly of the Phantoms with summoned Nevermores, they tended to retreat rather quickly. Jorge and Ben typically dealt with the Wraiths, although Winter was also made aware of their weaknesses.

 _Atlas has never had something like this!_ Winter thought, impressed by the vivid illusions made by the Simulator.

At one point, a pair of massive armored beings descended from one of the Phantoms. They carried gigantic cannons that fired lethal beams of energy, and the armor they wore proved a challenge even to Winter. But as the Spartans demonstrated, they were vulnerable to a death by a thousand cuts, which she quickly learned to exercise in a more literal manner. They were also especially vulnerable to fire and rather notably, Ice Dust. One well placed Glyph and a sprinkling of Dust would flash-freeze most of the worms, and the larger creature would be killed.

The Spartans were impressive warriors, more so than Winter had anticipated. Ben changed his position constantly, swapping between a sniper rifle and a shotgun, as well as a large shoulder mounted laser cannon for heavier targets. His accuracy was impressive, and Winter found the enemies who would have otherwise caught her off guard typically found a high-velocity interruption embedded in their skulls. He also seemed to have a particular affinity for close quarters combat, which he performed with efficient and deliberate strikes. Jabs and kicks didn't stun the enemy, they broke the target's bones, tore tendons, and snapped necks and spines. He seemed to use his kukri knife more like a tool than a weapon, a way to dig past armor and strike around it. It was unusual to see someone so focused purely on offensive battering, rather than evasion or mobility like a Huntsmen.

Jorge was something different entirely. He was like an unstoppable force and an immovable object at the same time. Anything the Covenant sent at him, he had a way to kill it. Infantry, Tanks, even some Banshee aircraft all fell prey to the armored warrior. Whenever the enemy became too close, he swapped to a submachine gun and killed the offending aliens, before returning to his heavy machine gun.

The primary weapon Jorge wielded was one of the rare examples that Winter had seen of a customized weapon aboard the Dominion. It's modifications were minor, but clearly done with some thought placed into how Jorge used the weapon. She was surprised to see him swap out the barrel of the weapon at multiple points, before she remembered that without an Aura to protect the gun from the heat, it would probably begin to break down.

Any questions Winter had about the capabilities of the Spartans were buried beneath the oceans of Covenant corpses the two supersoldiers left in their wake. She had known they fought like legends, but to see just what they were capable of, all without Aura... it was a truly enlightening experience. Of course, the technicians were quick to warn her that the Covenant were substantially more capable in real life, and for the sake of not straining the simulation, it was being run on a lower difficulty.

"Snipers in the office complex at mark 230, third floor, red window." Jorge called out, seemingly not even looking away from where he was shooting. Moments later, the beams of purple energy emerging from the building were silenced by several sniper rifle rounds.

"Grunts, lots of them, heading down the right stairwell." Ben called out, before Winter sent them flying with the hell of some Wind Dust. "Uh, scratch that, thanks Specialist."

 _He almost sounded impressed._ Winter noted with a smirk. She finished off the last of the grunts with a series of well aimed sword swings. It seemed like they were more prone to panicking than most of the others.

"Bonus round, good luck!" The ambient voice said, their loud voice booming throughout the streets.

"Bonus round?" Winter asked, confused by the rather unprofessional terminology.

Jorge added more ammunition to his belt. "Get ready for something more... unusual."

It turned out that "unusual" translated to a swarm of Grunts, all of which had their simulated fear removed. Winter was astonished by how hapless they could be, on more than one occasion, the Grunts would prime a pair of plasma grenades and charge towards her. Thankfully, Winter was able to use her summoning capabilities to great effect on them, even a tiny nevermore was more than sufficient to cause them to blow up. Jorge and Ben tore through the sea of Grunts in a silent rampage. Eventually, the last grunt dropped dead, and long rivers of blue blood ran throughout the arena.

The world around her vanished and after a moment, she saw nothing but black again, and then the helmet was removed from her head. She tried to stand up, but immediately found herself unexpectedly woozy and off-balance.

"Woah, woah, take it easy!" One of the technicians said, offering her a bit of extra stability in the form of a shoulder to grab onto. "Sorry Specialist, I should have warned you. Your brain is going to need a minute to catch up, after all, it thinks you just teleported."

"It's not a problem." Winter replied, ignoring the slight headache she had and turning to look at the Spartans, who both seemed to be examining her. "Is something wrong?"

"Not at all, you did good." Ben answered.

"Very nice work with those birds." Jorge noted. "I never would have thought to do something like that."

The Spartans had been rather taken aback by the extent of her summoning capabilities, but they adapted rather quickly.

"It's certainly an impressive illusion." Winter stated. "It all felt so... real."

The technician behind her chuckled. "Well, it is nice to have somebody actually excited to run them for a change. Come back with a Neural Lace, and I'll run you through some of the more impressive stuff."

 _I may very well do that._ Winter thought, although whether she would actually undergo the procedure to have a Neural Lace installed would require more thought.

"We're running the Sabre course in a few days, do you care to join us?" Jorge asked.

"What, like the swords?" Winter asked, placing a hand on the non-illusionary weapon on her hip.

Jorge chuckled. "No, the Space Superiority Fighter."

Winter could not deny the excitement in her mind. "...Give me some time to think about it?"

"Sure thing." Jorge said, before he turned to leave.

"Oh, and if you do decide to join us for the Sabre course." Ben interjected as he also turned to leave. "...Maybe take some motion sickness meds, just a friendly suggestion."

The two Spartans left, and Winter reflected on what she had learned about the Spartans. They weren't quite as emotionless as she expected, they cracked jokes, told stories, Jorge had even named his weapon.

 _They aren't so different after all._ Winter finally realized. Satisfied with her discoveries, she left the Simulator Bay, Ironwood would probably want to hear about the Simulators, and what Winter had learned about the Covenant.

**Authors note: This is actually a sort of "remaster" of the original chapter I had uploaded here. People who have read the original will recognize a lot of similarities, but for the most part, it's a good few notchs better in my opinion.**

**ODST Firefight is legendary for a reason, and I thought this would make a fun little outtake. I hope it turned out as well as I think it did**


	7. "The Few, The Brave"

**By Kpmh2001**

**Menagerie**

**Kuo Kuana, Cemetery of Heroes**

In Richard's opinion, there was never a good day for a burial. A death meant a life was permanently snuffed out, with only their soul left, forced to find the answer to the age old question, "what happens next?". He had never given religion or the afterlife any serious thought, although ONI had ensured he would likely see damnation in the eyes of any reasonable deity, but he would pay for that when he was dead, not before.

Still, despite the circumstances, the sun shined brightly, and the only clouds that dotted the sky did so in gentle wispy patterns. The Cemetery of Heroes was also a very nice place, well maintained by a team of groundskeepers, a clear sign of respect given to the names of those Huntsman and Huntresses that marked the urns and tombstones. Richard noticed that the Menagerie Guardsmen also were buried here, and that their names were far more numerous than those of the well-trained Huntsmen.

 _Not a bad place to spend eternity._ Richard thought, taking one last read of his brief speech, before returning it to the pocket of his dress uniform. _Well, let's get this over with, while I've still got some nerve._

There was a small podium that allowed Richard a place to stand and address the people listening. It was a small crowd, only around fifty people, with only two camera crews, at his own request. A burial was meant to be a quiet, solemn affair, and he intended to show his respect to those that they honored today. Behind him were a series of five coffins, along with an urn, each one holding one of the six fallen UNSC servicemen who hadn't requested their bodies to be returned home.

Richard tapped the microphone to confirm it was working before speaking. "Before we begin, I would like to thank Chieftain Belladonna for allowing us to lay our fallen soldiers to be laid to rest here. Although I do hope that one day we may return them to their relatives back home, they shall remain here, until that day comes."

The cameras were rolling, and the crowd, mainly UNSC personnel who had wished to attend the service, remained silent. Richard cleared his throat, before continuing.

"During my time in the UNSC, I have seen valor and courage displayed regularly by those brave men and women who sought to keep humanity safe from the horrors that seek to destroy us." he said, succeeding in keeping his voice sufficiently stoic, as he remembered that this was not the first funeral he had spoken at. "But the men and women resting behind me were unique, not just in their courage, but in their actions."

He paused to allow himself a deep breath, he was about to say something that would be very difficult for him to admit.

"We were not prepared for a conflict, not in the slightest. Nor were we prepared for the brutal and unnatural enemies that awaited us when we first set foot upon Remnant. There is nobody who I can blame for these failures, except myself." He said, choking on his final words despite the effort he put into them. "I only hope that wherever their souls are now, these Heroes know that their efforts were not in vain, and that they helped save many lives from the hellish conditions they were stuck in."

 _After all, that's our duty, isn't it? We die so that others can live, it's as simple as that._ Richard thought, a hint of doubt momentarily clouding his mind. But he knew that despite the intricacies and finer details, he and his men had done the right thing.

"Our enemy fought with a bitter hatred and ferocity that we did not expect, with techniques and methods that we found difficult to adapt to." Richard admitted, he hoped the softly-concealed venom in his voice overpowered any kind of praise that could be drawn from his words.

The camera crews looked somewhat startled by the cold hatred that he let slip in his voice, but those men and women in uniform did not bat an eye. He knew that despite how they might have felt at the start of this war, the SDC had now earned their place of hatred in the heart of any self-respecting UNSC servicemen. Although they would never rival the justified and righteous fury they held against the Covenant, the SDC had certainly had an impact on his crew.

He cleared his throat as he returned to a more calm tone of voice. "But nonetheless, we stood against the challenges posed against us. We fought to save people who we barely knew, against an enemy that we understood even less."

There was doubt in the eyes of his men, and Richard felt it too. It was an odd sort of reflection, wondering if things really had to be this way, if those lives lost could have been saved. If there was a way that they could have freed all of those people without firing a shot. It was this doubt that he intended to address and eliminate, regardless of whatever the answer may have been.

 _What's done is done, we have to live with it now._ Richard thought.

"There is no complex governmental authority that we can claim to have enforced, nor a judicial one. We believed that our enemy was wrong, what they were doing was wrong, and that our duties extended to protect those whom they sought to abuse and butcher." Richard said. "And even when we encountered dangerous opposition, we held to our beliefs, and we beat the enemy back."

The camera crews seemed a little more reassured now, as did his servicemen. The visors of two Spartans in the crowd didn't shift, not displaying a hint of emotion throughout the whole affair.

"Our duty, as soldiers, is to protect humanity... whatever the cost." Richard said, his voice straining again, although the microphone seemed to thankfully nullify it somewhat. "But that does not mean that we cannot mourn, and that we will ever forget the valiant deeds of those who made the ultimate sacrifice."

He bowed his head slightly, a brief moment of silence, which was echoed by the crowd.

"And like their forefathers before them, we lay the fallen to rest within the soil of a human world." Richard said, making some minor alterations to the exact wording of the traditional phrase, as to address Remnant's unique circumstances. "...Lieutenant, you may proceed."

"Present, arms!" Jorge instructed, his voice booming over the silence of the graveyard.

Seven designated marksman rifles raised their muzzles skywards, aimed over the flag-draped urn and coffins, before Jorge gave the gesture to fire. Three volleys of gunfire sounded out, as Richard took another deep breath, helping him keep his emotions under control.

With the volleys complete, the ceremony officially ended, and the first UNSC casualties on Remnant were finally laid to rest. Although he hated to admit it, Richard was well aware that there would be many more.

 _But we don't give up. No matter the odds, no matter our losses, we will fight until the last dying breath of the last human on this wretched ball of rock._ Richard thought. _No matter what stands in our way, we will not waver._


	8. "Wait, it gets worse!"

**By Kpmh2001**

**Menagerie**

The sun was finally setting over the outback, casting a red glow over shrub and Marine alike. Spent shell casings and patches of burning grass decorated the sandy grass, occasionally punctuated by a combat boot disrupting the dirt. Before the small party of soldiers, multitude of dissipating Grimm corpses turned into wispy nothingness.

A quick thermal scan confirmed what Ben's eyes had already determined. "We're clear!"

At his command, Nathan, Peggy, Kerry, Kowalski, and Mags all stood down. The rest of the team gave a quick visual sweep, just to confirm that the Grimm were all dead.

"Are ya certain?" Mags asked, seemingly doubting the ease of their victory.

"Positive." Ben confirmed. "Unless you see something I don't, we got them all."

"Huh... guess so." Mags replied, lowering Tasman and returning the weapon to its position slung under her shoulder. The sheer effort she'd put into making her weapon usable was very impressive, even if the results did look more than a little unwieldy. Nevertheless, she had proven her capability with the shoulder-mounted naval cannon, and that was enough to banish Ben's doubts.

"Should we call it in?" Kowalski asked.

Kerry reached for his backpack-mounted radio as he answered. Although their helmet radios had an impressive range, they couldn't reach the Dominion all the way up in Atlas like the larger field telephones could. "Yeah, I'll relay it in to the Dominion too, cover me."

Ben returned his gaze to the ridgelines and hill around them, just in case more Grimm decided to show up.

Nathan reloaded his sniper rifle as he performed his own sweep of the perimeter. "Why would the Grimm come here of all places? Arroyo's only a couple klicks down the road, if they're after the village, they could've taken it."

"Hell if I know." Mags answered. "But if the Grimm wanna make mistakes, I'm all for it."

"Either that, or all the smart ones have all gone for greener pastures." Nathan said, kicking over some of the desolate sand to punctuate his point. "But wait, those were Creeps. Didn't the briefing say that we're supposed to be fighting-"

He was interrupted by an ear-splitting screech in the air. Even through his helmet, Ben could sense how the sound reverberated throughout the small hills that surrounded them. Disturbingly, it sounded almost like the scream of a human, the kind that someone made on death's door. Were it not for the nature of their objective, Ben would've actually assumed that it was a human.

 _But I guess everything on this planet's gotta be messed-up somehow..._ Ben thought.

"...Thralls?" Nathan nervously finished, returning his rifle to a ready stance. "We've got company!"

Ben double-checked his Assault Rifle, confirming that it was ready for action. "Be careful what you wish for Nathan."

"Yeah, keep your porthole shut, ya daft bastard!" Mags added, placing Tasman back to its position on her shoulder as she moved her gaze to where they had heard the cry from. Nathan gave a snarky retort, but it was drowned out by the sounds of another screech, followed immediately by the first Thrall cresting the hill before them.

It was tall, vaguely humanoid, with lanky arms seemingly covered by tattered and decomposing rags, although what they once were was no longer apparent. Instead of legs, it possessed a snakelike tail, although he knew from the briefing earlier that they typically had a wide variety of appendages and limbs. Things like Spider legs, scorpion bodies, and even tentacles weren't unheard of, even if most of them still had their humanoid legs.

But the most troubling features were the hints of some sort of vague humanity in the creature. A face with two bloodshot, unblinking eyes stared him down with an expression of pain and fear, as if begging to be killed. Across it's malformed, seemingly malnourished chest, the remnants of an ammunition bandolier were visible, and on its head was an ancient steel helmet, with it's strap affixed to the Grimm's chin.

 _A helmet? And it's not made out of bones, like the masks..._ Ben thought.

Arrows and seemingly the remnants of a javelin stuck out from the creature's flesh, hinting at former battles where it had emerged victorious. More Thralls followed the first, culminating into a squad-sized unit that even stood in formation as they stood down the Marines. The Thrall that Ben now recognized as the leader gave a gut-churning scream that commanded the Grimm forward. But with a hundred meters between them and the humans, they would need some time to get close.

"Aw shite... they're old ones..." Mags said, her voice containing a hint of worry. "Watch out, they can get a wee bit... difficult."

"We'll be fine." Ben replied confidently, they had taken on Grimm before. "Weapons free!"

The squad unleashed a barrage of gunfire into the Grimm, spent casings littered the ground as they worked together to suppress the enemies advance. A deafening thunderclap sounded as Nathan separated one of the Grimm from it's lower half, bisecting it completely with a hit to its spine. The Grimm were immediately slowed considerably, and forced to disperse their formation and begin evasive maneuvers. The Thralls proved to be surprisingly difficult targets, as they rapidly maneuvered their lanky thin bodies to avoid harm.

Mags was something different entirely, like a squad unto herself. Ben still didn't know exactly how her seemingly steel cannonballs carried any explosive power, but they hit like shells from an autocannon, and scattered the Grimm away from their strangely organized formation even more. She rapidly reloaded Tasman's internal magazine, and used a cannonball loaded with Gravity Dust to launch one of the Thralls into the air. It must've flown dozens of meters, and Ben lost sight of it when it landed on the far side of a hill.

 _Damn, I need to get some of those._ Ben thought, lamenting the slow development of the UNSC's own gravitational weaponry. Still, his own rifle proved perfectly functional as he put it to use keeping the Thralls back.

It seemed difficult to actually kill the Grimm, but wounding them was easy enough, as the open terrain offered them little protection. The second Thrall died from combined gunfire from Mags and Ben, prompting an unexpected reaction from the Grimm. With frighteningly sharp coordination, they dove into cover, and immediately left the humans with an unexpected predicament. All of the Grimm that Ben had seen before seemingly had little interest in protecting themselves from bullets, preferring to close the distance and engage in melee combat with their targets rather than take shelter. This was very different, and immediately made him somewhat worried.

Although hard obstructions were chronically rare in the Menagerie bush, the Thralls managed to find rocks, small bits of defilade, and bits of long-dead wood to hide behind. From behind a large boulder, their leader did something that Ben did not expect, and haphazardly tossed something at him in an overarching throw. The other Grimm dug into their cover to take shelter from the UNSC gunfire and the wrath of Mags's cannonballs.

At first, Ben assumed that the Thrall had thrown a stick, or perhaps even it's own severed arm at him. But as the short, thin object landed at his feet, he saw it was actually some sort of aged wooden stick. There was some kind of ancient, long deformed writing down it's length, and at the end of the handle was a single metal bulb, with a cord trailing out of the other end of the handle.

Ben's well-trained instincts kicked in as he used his foot to punt the object away from his squad as far as he could, and not a moment too soon, as it exploded mid-air almost immediately after. Bits of shrapnel from the blast of the grenade and a concussive wave took their toll on his shields, but his squadmates remained unharmed.

 _A stick grenade?!_ Ben thought, suddenly realizing just how much of a threat these creatures truly faced. If these Grimm could use weapons, especially something as devastating as a Grenade, that demanded additional caution.

He quickly called out a set of instructions to his squad to adapt to the new threat. "Scatter formation, grab some cover! These things are armed!"

The ODSTs widened the gaps between each man, while Mags abandoned all sense of attempting to stick with the slower Marines, and launched toward one of the flanking Thralls at speeds an ordinary human simply couldn't hope to match. She launched a barrage of projectiles at the creature, blowing it apart at various points and sending it scattering into the wind.

Ben refocused his efforts on suppressing the leader of the group, but the boulder that the Thrall was sheltered behind protected it from harm. The ODSTs had managed to erode some of the Grimm, and used grenades and flanking tactics to flush those that were hiding into the open. Nathan used his sniper rifle to excellent effect, and managed to eliminate a number of the more isolated Grimm by himself.

 _That leader has got to go._ Ben realized, hearing it hiss and scream at its subordinates, seemingly issuing commands in some otherworldly language. Seeing such organization amongst the Grimm was deeply troubling to him, but he kept those thoughts in the back of his mind, where they wouldn't interfere with the battle.

"Nathan, can you get a shot on that thing?" Ben asked, placing a navpoint on the boulder that the Grimm was hiding behind to display what he needed killed. Not once did Ben relent his suppressive gunfire, if Grimm had any more grenades to throw, Ben needed to keep it pinned.

"Negative!" Nathan replied for unknown reasons, leaving Ben with only a handful of other options. He quickly decided on the simplest option, and withdrew a grenade to flush the Grimm out.

"Grenade!" Ben shouted as he cooked the fuse down slightly, before tossing it in a broad arc so that it would land on the other side of the Thrall's cover. Without Curie to help guide it, he was left to his training to aim it properly, but he managed to place the grenade where he wanted it with little difficulty.

It exploded, sending shrapnel in every direction, including into the flesh and scales of the cowering Thrall, which gave a cry of pain that sounded far too much like a human's for Ben's liking. The Grimm left it's cover and launched itself towards Ben, slithering it's tail across the ground worryingly quickly. Ben leveled his rifle and targeted it's tail, attempting to maim it's ability to move, and rapidly depleted what was left of his magazine in the process.

The scales of the Grimm acted like a sort of armor, but proved insufficient to completely negate the effects of the high-velocity armor-piercing ammunition. The bullets overpenetrated the Thrall's lower half, emerging out of the Grimm's backside barely slowed. Although the Grimm was slowed and wounded, it was not stopped nor deterred.

Recognizing the surprisingly low density of the enemy's body, and that he would not have time to reload before it was upon him, Ben reached for his M6/SOCOM magnum pistol and expertly placed a trio of shots into the Thrall's center of mass. At once, the high-explosive rounds proved far more effective at rending the Grimm's flesh. Ben inadvertently managed to use some of the discarded weaponry embedded in the Thrall's body as a sort of shrapnel, sending fragments of metal and wood across the Grimm's body and wounding it even more.

Although most of the abomination's fleshy black chest was now exposed to the elements, and it's mobility was hampered, the Grimm still managed to lunge towards Ben with one final burst of energy. As the Thrall barreled towards him, Ben deftly sidestepped, grabbed the creature by the neck, and slammed it face-first into the Menagerie dirt. The Grimm hit the ground so hard that it's helmet was dented by a rock on the ground.

 _Gotcha!_ Ben thought, as he placed another three shots into the Grimm's lower spine, preventing it from escaping using what was left of its lower half. The howls of pain from the Grimm chilled him, but his training kept him from hesitating, or even thinking twice about what he was doing.

A quick glance around the battlefield confirmed that the ODSTs and Mags had made short work of the remaining Thralls. Deciding to try to gain some valuable insight into what had proven to be an unknown foe, Ben relented from killing the Grimm immediately, and instead disabled it's arms by crushing them in his gauntlets.

Once the Thrall was sufficiently pacificed, Ben used his foot to carefully flip it over, revealing the true extent of the damage that his bullets had done. Whatever the Grimm had instead of organs, they certainly weren't any more durable than any kind of regular animal's body parts. Shrapnel and high-velocity ammo had torn the Grimm's body apart to such an extent that Ben was amazed it was still alive, let alone able to move and fight as well as it had.

 _What are you, really?_ Ben thought, reaching down to remove the Grimm's steel helmet. The flesh of the Grimm's chin was fused into the strap of the helmet, holding it to the Thrall's head. A slight tug liberated the helmet from it's trap.

Nathan approached him from behind as Ben inspected the helmet. "Hey Ben, we got them all... uh, Ben?"

"Yes Nathan?" he replied, turning to face the ODST, whose body language suggested he was very disturbed by what he was seeing.

"Are you uh... gonna kill that thing?" Nathan awkwardly asked, before spotting the decaying helmet in Ben's hands. "Wait, is that a helmet?"

Ben folded the object over in his hands, designwise, it dated back centuries by Earth's standards. The helmet wouldn't have been out of place in the first two world wars, much like the grenade that the Thrall had thrown earlier. But Remnant's abnormal technological standards meant that the garment could've been thousands of years old, or perhaps only a few dozen. "Yes, and this thing was wearing it."

Nathan depolarized his visor and looked at the Grimm with a disturbed expression. "That's... creepy. So, these things use our own stuff against us?"

Ben looked down at the Thrall's face, and looked directly into the bloodshot, dehydrated organs that permitted the creature to see. Even as disheveled as the creature was, Ben could see the fear on its face, clear as day. He briefly pondered what animalistic thoughts lay behind those eyes, before crushing the Grimm's head beneath his heavily armored boot, killing it instantly.

"Yes, they do. These ones must be smart enough to use captured equipment." Ben replied, although deep down, he wasn't so sure if he was correct. Still, it was better than inspiring any further worry within the ranks of the Marines. "We'll need to change our tactics accordingly, and bear in mind that these things can use our weapons."

Curiously, the helmet that the Grimm wore didn't melt away with its owner, nor it's tattered outfit. Ben affixed it to his belt, perhaps it would have some value to Curie's ongoing efforts to explore Remnant's history. Nathan looked at the vanishing Grimm corpse with an expression of disturbed curiosity, but thankfully didn't voice any more questions. "Yeah... I guess so."

As the squad returned to their two warthogs, Ben took a position at the rear of the formation with Mags, hoping to speak with her privately about their foes. Her face seemed somewhat slumped, and it was obvious that she was in deep thought.

"Mags, what were those things?" Ben asked. "Why were they wearing armor, or using weapons?"

Mags took a deep, seemingly labored breath. "I don't know Ben, but there's some... rumors, about the Thralls."

"What kind of rumors?" Ben asked, his curiosity unfettered. Although rumors were rarely useful, rarely did not mean never.

She looked to him with an expression of doubt. "Well some people think that the Thralls... well, that they used to be old soldiers. The Grimm take the corpses and then they... change them, I guess. Nobody can prove it but... they seem a little bit smarter than the other Grimm."

Ben was deeply disturbed by her answer, not only because of what he had seen, but because of the odd sort of logic behind it. Remnant had no shortage of dead heroes, and many of their bodies remained unrecovered, left to fester and rot in the mud, deep within the Grimm-occupied territory. How the Grimm knew how to do such a thing, or why they did it, remained a mystery, but that didn't make it any less disturbing. Weeks ago, Ben would've claimed it was impossible, but Remnant had proven that the impossible didn't exist.

"...I see." Ben replied with a rare hint of hesitation. "Thank you."

"Don't think about it too much there, Spartan." Mags advised. "I spent a good few years in a bottle, and eventually I learned to ignore those thoughts."

"It's not relevant." Ben bluntly responded. "Whether or not they were human, they're not anymore, they're the enemy now."

"Damn straight." Mags said with a firm nod. Her eyes hinted at a deeper curiosity, but she didn't raise her voice again.

Even as the Fireteam returned to Arroyo, and divided the reward money for the mission between the UNSC's growing pool and Mags, Ben couldn't stop thinking about the expression on that Grimm's face... and whether or not he would have to face them again.

**Authors Note: Although the Flood may not have a place in my story, that does not mean that the elements behind what makes them so scary don't. The idea for the Thralls came from my recent return to Battlefield 1, and the muddy corpse-filled trenches, combined with some of the creepier elements of the flood, birthed what I like to think of as a creepy addition to the forces of Grimm. After all, before Remnant had Huntsmen and Huntresses... it only had soldiers to stand against the Grimm.**

**Next omake should be a bit less spooky and serious, I just thought I'd try something a little different. I like experimenting with new ideas here, especially since it's canonicity is questionable, at least, in some instances.**

**Editor's Note: PHILOSOPHY IS CANON**

**Author's Note: No! How many times do we have to talk about this!**


	9. "A day off of the job"

**By Kpmh2001**

**The Dominion, Enlisted Personnel Lounge**

In many ways, having his wounds healed and being cleared for light duties did not fix Nathan's boredom. The Dominion was in excellent shape, so maintenance parties weren't even being drafted from the Marines anymore. Even if he had wanted to, there was nothing for him to work on.

 _Even the swabbies are bored…_ Nathan thought, the long faces and vaguely irritated glares becoming common even amongst the Dominion's naval staff. It was odd seeing a vessel in the fleet without a long list of maintenance issues, but the Dominion's age proved a boon to it's lifespan, as it was older than the Human-Covenant War, meaning that it had managed to avoid many of the corner-cutting that it's sister ships had suffered from.

Still, there was a certain liberty to not having urgent instructions, something that he sought to enjoy for as long as possible. The extensive Barracks facilities aboard the Dominion held a variety of different Rec Rooms for usage by officers and enlisted personnel alike.

While still featuring titanium paneled walls and the traditional unsightly nature of most warship interiors, some effort had been taken to give these specific facilities a more homely appearance. Wooden tables took the place of the traditionally drab grey metal ones, and some nautically-themed decorations adorned the walls and doorways. Of particular note to him was an ancient disarmed naval shell, as well as an old whaling spear.

 _Well, at least we have a backup pool cue._ Nathan thought, taking a moment to admire the particularly savage-looking tool. It's backwards-mounted hook pointing towards a more brutal era of fishing.

"Magnificent, aren't they?" A familiar Irish voice said from outside his peripheral vision. Sure enough, Mags was also admiring some of the decor right beside him.

Although Nathan had only recently been introduced to her, he quickly found himself appreciating the nautical huntress. Unlike some of his old teachers, she had a way of making her lessons on how to operate an Aura entertaining and understandable. Plus, she had a habit of inventing creative insults for those who obstructed her lessons, which was always a useful skill for an instructor.

"You know, for the way that you fight, you can be really quiet." Nathan replied, eyeing the massively modified naval cannon that she had slung under her shoulder. "Still, I'm not surprised to hear that you're a fan of the way the squids did this place up."

"Oh, why wouldn't I be?" She said, reaching up and taking the ancient spear off of it's mount. She ran her hand along the handle, rubbing her fingers together as flakes of rust came off of it. "Shameful state... if only I had more time, I'd love to restore this…"

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know that you could polish rust, ma'am."

She delicately returned the old weapon to it's mount. "Well, maybe I should teach you all how to do some proper restorative work, it's hardly as difficult as channeling your Aura."

"Heh, I'm sure we'll find time for it eventually…" Nathan said, despite the fact that he knew Mags's schedule was probably overloaded. "On the note of making things not rusty, what do you think of the Marines?"

"Oh, you lads are great." She answered with a grin. "Hearing about the Covenant made me worry that you'd be a mopey bunch, but even though you're lost way out here on Remnant, you guys keep in good spirits. That's something even a lot of Huntsmen can't do, so you've earned my respect."

Nathan pursed his lips as he thought over what she said. It was true that the Marine Corps had a reputation for being a jolly bunch, and it was well-earned, but that didn't mean it was all sunshine and rainbows for them. He'd seen more than a few of his former squadmates broken down by the war, and even more blown to smithereens. He'd lost more than a few family members, and although he hadn't actually checked, he was willing to bet more of them fell with Reach.

 _I'm sure they're fine… Manny's a stubborn son of a bitch, and Dale's a crafty bastard._ Nathan thought.

All of the Marines of Zulu Company were apparently all survivors from the Third Battalion of the 18th Marine Regiment. Whatever battle they had come from, it had churned enough Marines through the meat grinder to turn four companies into one, and that spoke volumes about what those leathernecks had seen.

"It's uh, difficult, sometimes." Nathan decided to admit. "But it's always better to go into a battle with high spirits than being miserable. We've gotta keep fighting no matter what, so we make the most of it."

Mags gave a slow nod as she digested his words. "You know, you're more like Huntsmen than you realize. I think that once the people on the ground really get to know you guys, they'll be thankful to have you overhead."

Nathan flashed her a smile. "Thanks Mags, you ain't so bad yourself."

She gave a hearty chuckle as she turned away. "Oh believe me, I already knew that."

As the nautically-minded Huntress walked away, Nathan thought a bit more deeply about her words.

 _We're like them, huh?_ Nathan thought. _Or are they just like us?_

" **Swish Swish Stab"**

**By Kpmh2001**

**The Dominion, Foundry**

Of all of the lessons that Ben had received at Camp Currahee, none proved to be more interesting than those regarding the weapons and equipment used by the Covenant. Kurt and Mendez had ensured that every single Spartan had gotten a chance to familiarize themselves with every piece of equipment in the Covenant's arsenal, at least, every piece of equipment that the UNSC understood.

Although he'd spent plenty of time driving Ghosts and flying Banshees, he had always taken a special interest in the handheld weaponry that the aliens used. From the hulking fuel rod guns down to the lowly plasma pistol, it seemed like everything the aliens used had some sort of bizarre deviation from it's UNSC counterpart. But the main lesson had always stuck with him, even the most unassuming of alien weaponry would put you down for good, and fast.

 _Don't let your guard down around this stuff, it's just as likely to kill you as it is to kill the enemy._ Mendez's voice instructed inside his mind. _Complacency kills, especially when you're dealing with alien killing devices._

"Okay Ben, go ahead and give it a shot." Curie instructed.

He did as she commanded, and the small silver handle in his right hand grew a set of fangs made from plasma. The faint blue glow of the energy sword was truly mesmerizing, but Ben did not let that stifle his thinking. He kept the blade in a relaxed position, and his grip firm.

"Everything good?" He asked, looking to Curie's hologram for guidance. Just because it looked and sounded like it was working fine, did not mean that it was.

"The failsafe reads negative, and the plasma battery is at nominal levels." Curie said, her voice faintly distracted as she admired the weapon. "All in all, it seems that this weapon is in pristine condition."

Ben gave a firm nod, raising the sword into a ready position. "Good. Now, what was the test you wanted to conduct?"

"I wanted to try to emulate something that I learned about from Set, he called it "waving"." Curie answered. "Simply put, by applying strong horizontal force in a clockwise or counterclockwise manner after a stab, you may be able to inflict greater wounding potential."

"Twist the blade, got it." Ben said. "What's the target?"

"That." Curie said, gesturing towards a two meter tall black obelisk of darkened metal and solidified carbon in the center of the room. "Give it a thorough stab, and then try the maneuver."

 _Ah yes, the filter clogger._ Ben thought, well aware of the dreaded combination of soot, filth, low-quality metals, and outright garbage that the Foundry produced with its trash compactor. Standard practice was to dump it into space, along with the rest of the waste the ship produced, in a manner where it would be destroyed by natural means. Although in this case, it would serve as an excellent hard target.

Ben strode towards the dense pillar and assumed a fighting stance, before jabbing the blades into the center of the structure. The blade of the energy sword were practically weightless, but that didn't mean the user could afford to skip out in regards to exerting force. Red hot flakes of metal and smoldering char fell out of the twin gaps before Ben roughly shifted the blade to the right, with predictably devastating results.

Sparks and flaming charcoal blasted from the new indentations that Ben had inflicted into the brick of refuse. Droplets of molten metal followed once he pulled the blade out.

"I'd say it works great." Ben noted. "I still can't imagine it's more effective than a broad decapitation."

"Well yes, Set did say it was only useful in a handful of circumstances." Curie explained.

Ben turned to face her, cocking his helmet to the side to show his confusion. "Wait, so is he telling you these things… willingly?"

"Well, not entirely." Curie answered. "He has a habit of rambling, and it's not too difficult to keep him going once he's sidetracked."

Ben huffed with amusement. "For all his posturing, he's quite the loudmouth. I wonder if his situation is really starting to dawn on him."

"We can only hope for his cooperation." Curie said. "Perhaps in time, we can educate him properly, with knowledge of the sciences, rather than of frivolous religion."

"The only way you'll dig that fanaticism out of his head is with one of these." Ben said, gesturing with his energy sword to punctuate the point, but being careful not to swing it haphazardly. "Their warriors raised from birth Curie, it would be like trying to get a Spartan to defect to the Covenant."

She placed her hands on her hips with a notable hint of sass. "You say that, but we're orbiting a planet who has no experience with the Covenant. If we could change Set's mindset, they could have a genuinely positive experience with alien life!"

"What, was us telling them how to generate a sterilization field not good enough somehow?" Ben joked. "I get that first contact was hardly a breeze, but we've made some allies!"

"We are not aliens, you simpleton." She teasingly replied. "Besides, we aren't even in the Milky Way, there could be all kinds of friendly alien civilizations out there for us to find!"

"I thought we were in a different reality?" Ben asked. "Are we just in another galaxy?"

Curie awkwardly shuffled her feet. "The explanation I presented was just a theory. The observations I made, and those recovered from Auntie Dot, are the only concrete evidence I have of where we actually are."

He let out a sigh as he looked down at his weapons, all of this reality-hopping stuff was way above his comprehension. He severed the massive assembly of trash in half with one horizontal swing, before "sheathing" the weapon.

A joking thought occurred to him as he approached Curie. "Heh, I bet the Split Lip knows exactly where we are."

Curie seemed surprised by his words, before putting on a genuine expression of deep thought. "I… have not asked him."

 _Oh no._ Ben thought, knowing well what happened whenever he accidentally inspired Curie's curiosity. "Curie, that's not what I meant-"

"Oh stop trying to talk me down and pick me up, you big baby." She teasingly challenged. With a reluctant sigh, he picked up her chip, and began the walk to Set's cell.


	10. "Teleportation, Alcohol, Violence, and Migraines, in that order."

**Author's Note: Hey there, Kpmh2001 here. Just a quick forward, this particular story was written by a good friend of mine, Playererror404. A good while ago, he wrote a Halo/RWBY crossover called "Remnant's of a Spartan", which I imagine many of you have also read. For those who haven't, let much just preface the rest of this by saying that he's taken a considerably different approach to Noble Six's character than every other author in this little niche of fanfiction (in fact, that was his original motivation, to make a Noble Six that felt genuinely different). Oh yeah, and it should go without saying, but this story is non-canon, and just for fun, and frankly, I think that's why we're all here. Without further ado...**

**By PlayerError404**

The Dominion's crew was enjoying one of the first relaxed days they had had in a very long time. Granted, there was the near constant stress of being stranded in another world with no way of seeing their friends and loved ones again, and the fact most of the planet still didn't like them, and that a lot of them had only ever set foot on Remnant to fight in a brutal war against racist slavers.

Okay, "when" looking back on it the stress was only lower because said war was now over, and their side had won; for a lot of the ship's crew things were… less than ideal.

Lieutenant Bradford was currently in a less than ideal situation. Yes his side had won and that took a lot of stress off him; but the wheels of an army didn't stop turning just because the war was over, and the paperwork stacking up in his hard drive really did need looking over.

He groaned as he slid back in his chair. Technically he could probably take the rest of the day off, maybe get a night of sleep without the guilt of knowing there were slaves that still needed to be liberated.

The problem was that stuff had started slipping a bit during the war and he was sure a decent effort tonight could get things into a manageable state tomorrow but….

_I am so tired._

He shook himself, that wasn't a helpful attitude, he needed to try harder to get this finished.

That was when the ship started shaking.

"Curie, what's going on?" He asked, leaping to his feet, fatigue held at bay by an adrenaline rush.

"Unknown." Curie responded. "Something seems to be forming around the Dominion."

"Grimm?" Bradford asked.

"Negative." The AI responded, materialising from the Holotank in front of him; a look of stress on her face. "This force does not match with anything encountered before on Remnant."

"So, what do we do, Sir?" A new voice asked, turning around, Bradford saw the doors to the bridge slide open, revealing the rest of the bridge crew, the ship's two Spartans and Liaison from Atlas Winter Schnee. Identifying the speaker as Spartan G-021 (or Ben as most people called him)

"I would advise bracing." Curie said. "I am detecting a rupture in space behind us and I cannot imagine the path through will be comfortable."

"Can the Dominion take it?" Bradford asked, they could not lose the ship if they did then they lost everything.

"I cannot say, hold on, I am detecting a strong energy build up." Curie muttered before the bridge was enveloped in a dazzling burst of orange light.

The next few seconds were weird, it felt like everything around them was being pulled apart, layer by layer stripped away, examined in intense detail; the ship, the crew, the food, the weapons, everything, taken apart and studied down to the most intricate detail.

Then it was over, everything snapped back into place and all was calm.

Actually no, it wasn't, the people on the Dominion were… Rattled.

"What the hell was that!?" Bradford cried, shuddering as he moved his arms up and down his body, making sure everything was back where it was meant to be.

"I… I do not know." Curie said, her model flickering and glitching her limbs twitching and spasming uncontrollably.

"Curie!" Ben cried, running over to the holo tank, holding his hand out and allowing her to dive inside his Mjolnir helmet.

"I… I apologise for my outburst." She said, comforted by the familiar firmware of her partner's armour. "That experience was as rough on me as it was on everyone else onboard."

"What was that?" Winter asked, her royalty-like facade cracking for a second.

"I cannot say." Curie responded. "That is to say, I cannot say to the degree of accuracy I normally strive for."

"We'll take your guess Curie." Bradford said dully, rubbing his head carefully. "It's probably better than anything we could make."

"Thank you, sir." Curie said, enjoying the small complement as she transferred back to the bridge's holo tank. "So far as I can approximate, we have travelled through some kind of rift."

"Another slipspace incident?" Ben asked.

"How is that possible; we don't have a slip space drive, no one on Remnant does." Bradford added.

"I never said it was a slip space rift, the sensation does not match and also…" Curie said; sliding the blast shields off the bridge's windows as she did so; revealing a familiar planet and a very familiar shattered moon. "…We do not appear to have moved."

This put everyone on edge, something big had happened, the fact it wasn't immediately obvious what was… disturbing.

"Okay, we need to find out what happened. Curie, see if you can figure out what just happened?"

"Already on it Monsieur." Curie responded. "One thing that is making it harder is the lack of any of my existing backdoors into any of Remnants computer infrastructure."

"You don't have any difficulty gaining access to any of it though." Ben pointed out.

"Even if the walls are made of wet paper, the open door is still easier to travel through." Curie responded. "I do not like this, certain information I am gathering is just... wrong."

"How-" Bradford began before getting cut off, because one of the consoles was glowing. Ensign Gillespie spoke up.

"Sir, we appear to be receiving a transmission… on the UNSC E-band." he said.

"From the planet?" Jorge asked, seemingly incredulous at that news. "is it any of our people?"

"No, it's transmission seems to match a Vulture's radio system; but our own airwingis fully accounted for." Curie responded quickly.

"Can you get any more information on it?" Bradford questioned, more shocked then he cared to admit when the AI shook her head.

"No, something on board is blocking my efforts to dig any deeper, a firewall of some kind."

That rattled everyone else in the room; software that stopped Curie from achieving her goal was… worrying to say the least.

"Sir, do we accept?" Gillespie asked, looking around the bridge nervously.

"Curie?" Bradford asked, looking at the shaken AI.

"I… as far as I can tell there is nothing malicious about this call. However, I do not think accepting a call from an unknown factor that can stop me is a good idea, the ships firmware is too important, and we cannot afford to lose anythi-"

"BOOAARRRIIINNNGGG!" A new voice called out suddenly, the communication console flaring to life as the call excepted itself.

Everyone tensed as that happened, this was bad, they had hacked the ship anything could-

" **SEVEN YOU UNBELIEVEABLE SHIT!"** Another new voice called out, presumably a young woman based on how it sounded. " **Piss off before you make this mess any worse!"**

"But Siiixxxx…." The first voice wined, in a tone that Winter especially recognized as belonging to someone who was thoroughly drunk.

" **SEVEN GO, NOW!"** The second voice called out before audibly collecting herself. When she next spoke, it was in a much calmer (though clearly still stressed) tone.

"Sorry about that, I… well that is to say… Urgh. Look this is Spartan B312, Noble Six and I am so, so sorry about this."

* * *

Noble Six was less ignorant of social situations then she had been when she first arrived on Remnant but that didn't mean she had the complete picture on everything that normally happened on Weddings. But somehow, she suspected brilliant flashes of orange light followed up by the appearance of UNSC warships was not a part of it.

She did however, suspect why this was happening.

"Seven." The heavily scared woman said slowly.

" _Hic!_ Yeah Six?" A glowing orange AI asked, stumbling forward. Six would admit she looked drunk; wearing boots and a cape over her bridesmaid dress. Granted Seven always looked like that; the only change now was she was cross-eyed and stumbling around like crazy.

"Can you please explain this!?" Noble Six yelled, gesturing furiously to the floating ship.

"Well yeah!" Seven said eagerly, bouncing from foot to foot. "See Coco and me were talking while she was picking out a dress and she was like 'I want to remember my wedding night, so I guess I shouldn't drink too much' and I was like 'Well I wouldn't know, never been drunk.' And Coco wouldn't stand for that and insisted I get plastered in her place…"

Six rubbed her aching head, scowling at Coco; only able to resist pouncing on her because she liked Velvet and figured she wouldn't be too happy about her wife getting splattered against a wall… no matter what she was indirectly responsible for.

To calm down Six reached for and took her girlfriends hand; Ilia reassuringly took it as she studied the cruiser above them.

"…So, I made myself more organs and now Boom! Wasted!" Seven grinned happily, swaying worse now.

"So how does the spaceship fit into this?" Ilia Amitola asked nervously.

"Well you know, Since I repaired the Ostium rings they've just been sitting unused for so long and I was like 'hey let's get these things working again!" Seven explained happily.

Six's brain was really struggling now, there had to be something she was missing, surely she'd heard something wrong.

"I… We broke those and 498, what happened to him; how was he okay with all of this?" Six asked, looking around for the Forerunner monitor; only to see the floating ball…

"Seven."

" _Hic!_ Yeah Six?"

"Why is 498 being used as a Volleyball?" Six asked, pointing across the room towards the Forerunner monitor, who at the moment was being battered around by some of Coco's friends over a table laden with cakes.

"Oh right! So, see when I told him what I was planning he was like 'Seven that is foolish and stupid even by your low standards' and I was like 'Oh come on Niney-"

" **NINEY!?"** Six called out; her brain thoroughly broken.

"It's his nickname, cute isn't it!" Seven explained happily. "Anyway, I told Niney 'So like, you're being a buzz kill, if you joined in you also might have some fun.' And he was like 'I know how to have fun' and I was like 'No you don't you float about working, Tell ya what I'm gonna make you some drunk code once I know what it's like and you can join in the fun!'"

"Did he agree to that?" Ilia asked quietly, even though she and Six knew what the answer to that was.

"Well I mean… I was really buzzed by the time I had enough data so I didn't really hear anything; but he seems to be having fun." Seven said, pointing towards the floating ball as he drifted off course and smacked into one of the walls.

"I… Fuck." Six groaned, looking up at the ship. "Gotta deal with this now"

"Six you're gonna miss the rest of the reception." Ilia pointed out, looking at her girlfriend who nodded.

"Yeah, if you see Coco and Velvet tell them I'm sorry, but I think I have to sort this mess out quickly." Six said, pointing at the floating ship.

"You're… probably right." Ilia admitted, sighing. "Just stay safe okay."

"I will." Six said, leaning in and giving Ilia a quick kiss, enjoying the sight of her skin markings going pink.

"Have fun Six!" Seven declared happily, going to stagger off.

"Oh no, I'm not going alone, come with me now." Six said, grabbing the AI and hoping she was too drunk to realise she could just turn off her hard-light body.

"Siiiiiiiixxxxxxxx!" She whined as she was dragged towards the parked Vulture.

Everyone on the bridge of the Dominion was on high alert, in theory a Spartan being on the planet contacting them was a good sign, but one thing had thrown them off; Jorge was staring at the screen, disbelief written all over his face.

"Spartan B-312, this is Lieutenant CommanderBradfordof the UNSC Dominion; can you explain what just happened?" Bradford asked, this was the only lead they had and probably their only chance of even starting to understand what just happened.

"Urgh… Sorry it's just, you will not believe how moronic this situation is." The woman at the other end responded. "Look, this is probably a surprise to you but you've just been dragged over from UNSC space to a planet called Remnant; it's really weird."

"Can you explain how we got here?" Bradford inquired, watching the screen as the speaker spoke again.

"That's the Moronic part, see the reason we're here is because of some old Forerunner project; it was designed to escape some sort of Flood and the AI in charge of it appears to have gotten drunk and pulled you over… Look I can probably get her to send you back but you might have to wait a bit; she's plastered right now and I don't think I can convince her to reverse what she's done while she's like this" the Spartan on the other end of the call responded. Irritation clear in her voice.

"I need to discuss amongst the rest of my Bridge crew before I make a decision; are you okay if we call you back once we've made a decision?" Bradford said, rubbing his forehead as if fighting off a headache.

"Go nuts, I'm not going anywhere." Noble Six responded before the call ended.

* * *

As soon as the channel was cut Bradford looked up at Jorge. "Do you think she's being genuine?"

Jorge let out a snort. "Not a chance Sir; that is not Noble Six."

"How do you know?" Winter asked, no one of the Dominion knew more than the basics of Jorge's old team, dwelling on likely-dead comrades was not helpful in a war or survival situation.

"Because the Noble Six I fought with was a man." He responded flatly. "Whoever was down there really didn't do their homework."

"I can confirm his point about B-312, Sir." Curie added. "Also, it is worth noting her explanation lacks credibility, AI cannot get drunk."

"Awfully poor cover story all things considered." Winter muttered. "Do you think this woman is hostile?"

"I cannot say, she could be any number of things; an SDC loyalist trying to lure us into a trap, a fangirl who wants to meet aliens… None of which are very likely. I feel we aren't going to get much of her just talking over a radio." Bradford eventually concluded before looking over at the Spartans. "Ben, Jorge, think you can handle an extraction?"

"You want us to capture her?" Ben asked, looking at the Senior officer who nodded.

"Obviously search her; she brings nothing up with her; whatever she's done to beatCurie has me worried, so just bring her up here. Any back-up she has can't reach us up here."

"We understand, Sir." Jorge said with a nod. "How rough should we be?"

"As rough as she makes it, if she agrees to come with you without a fight bring her, but if she resists..."

"We fight back?" Ben asked; wondering what weapons he would need to bring with him.

"Yes, but nonlethal, we can't interrogate a corpse." Bradford added.

"Understood." Ben and Jorge said, the former retrieving his AI and plugging her back into his armour.

As the two left Bradford called the imposter Spartan again.

"This is Bradford, are you receiving me?"

"I hear you Dominion, are you coming down or what?"

 _A Spartan wouldn't have such poor radio discipline either._ Ben noted.

Bradford ignored that part of his brain and responded simply. "I'm sending a small group down to meet you; are you okay with that?"

"Erm sure." The speaker on the other end responded. The sound of typing followed. "Send 'em here; we'll talk once they're down."

"Acknowledged, they'll meet you there." Bradford responded, nodding for the communication to be cut. "Right, open up a new call to Ben and Jorge, tell them to land and be on their guard, the way she spoke there's going to be more than one person there waiting for you."

"Acknowledged." Ben responded.

* * *

Six watched, spotting the familiar silhouette of a Pelican coming in for a landing. The craft's engines roared as it hovered above the landing spot and gently set itself down.

She watched as the hatch opened, a single figure walking down the ramp.

_A Spartan._

Six took a second to look the figure over, he was wearing silver Mjolnir armour; this told Six a lot of things about him.

1: He was high priority, most Spartans had to make do with SPI armour given the cost of production, a suit like that must have meant he was very important to whatever mission he was on.

2: He was the only person disembarking, meaning they were cautious about her, but didn't feel the need to send an entire company after her.

3: The ship's mission was important enough to bring a Spartan with them.

4: This Guy was armed, with a battle rifle on his back and a magnum magnetically attached to his thigh.

5: When she found where Seven was, she was going to fucking strangle her.

_Okay no pressure, still you never know, maybe they just finished the mission and are on their way back home?_

_Yeah and Maybe Coco is going to stick to her promise of being responsible with the Alcohol, face it Seven fucked up this time._

_For once I'm with her, we are in so much trouble._

_Thank you you two, you're a big help._

"Hey, I take it you're who the Dominion sent to talk to me?" Six called, looking at the speaker who nodded. "Cool, hey you got a name?"

"Spartan G-021" The Spartan responded. Six groaned, so he was one of those guys.

_Weren't you one of those guys until you got here?_

"Not helping…" Six muttered under her breath. "…Yeah okay, do you have a name or am I just calling you 'G'?"

"Ben." The Spartan responded. "You wanted to talk?"

"If we could that would be great, seriously I am so sorry for what Seven did." Six said, thankful they were listening to her as she advanced, she watched as the Spartan's head jerked slightly as she got closer.

_What the hell happened to her?_

Ben knew it was a mistake to have sympathy for a potential enemy, but he could also tell this woman must have gone through hell. She couldn't have been out of her early 20's but the girl's body was a wreck, her body sporting a complex network of Scars covering basically everything.

But the worst part was her face, her face was… mutilated, covered in a spider web of trenches dug deep into her skin, marks that had faded to some extent; but clearly were never going away. As someone who'd had most of their face melted, Ben could sympathise; until he remembered why he was here.

"So, are you going to come out or what?" the Woman asked again, tilting her head sideways. It was as she did so that Ben confirmed this woman wasn't from UNSC space, her hair was a lavender and her eyes were bright orange. Granted there was a possibility of dyeing it but for a Spartan the chances of that happening were unlikely, not to mention her hair was far too long to possibly fit within any kind of regulations.

 _There is no way this person is a Spartan, she's even wearing high heels._ Ben noticed.

"Why don't you come aboard?" He asked, knowing that if he got this woman up close the fight would be over, two Spartans within such close range could easily stop one woman who admittedly had some muscle, but not enough to stop two fully augmented Spartans.

She might have realized this herself because she seemed hesitant to move.

"Err… no that's okay, I don't need to go up in space, to tell you the truth I was planning to stay here; look I just need to explain what's happening, if you come with me I can show you to Seven, she should be here but she-"

"That's fine, we don't need to see this 'AI'" Ben responded simply, figuring out this woman wasn't going to come quietly as he moved down the Pelicans ramp.

"You kinda do, she's the only one who knows how to send you back; look trust me here, you know we're both Spartans right, that's gotta count for something? The purple haired lady asked, somewhat desperately as she looked over at the figure. Perhaps she was realizing her ruse wasn't working.

"I have it on good authority that you are not a Spartan, standing here in front of you I can confirm that isn't the case. Miss, stand down and tell me why we're here." Ben said simply, taking another step towards the woman whose plan was evidently falling apart based on her confusion.

"What, no that not… I am a Spartan…" She muttered, glancing around before looking up at him.

"Ma'am stand down, you cannot win, please don't make me take you in by force." Ben said, moving forward and raising his Battle Rifle.

"I am a Spartan" the Woman said, before she opened her eyes, staring at him with a fierce determination in her eyes. "I am a Spartan."

Ben sighed, it seemed peace talks had broken down, time to get more serio-

_WHERE THE HELL DID THAT COME FROM!?_

The imposter Spartan had drawn something from under her skirt, the thing shifting into something very familiar looking.

It was a large box on the end of a large pole, with glowing vents on most of the boxes sides; the only one lacking anything was the back of the head, and that was because of the large glowing Axe blade protruding out the back. How she'd fitted the weapon under her skirt wasn't a priority; what was was what the thing looked like, because he'd seen weapons like it before.

_A Remnant made Gravity Hammer?_

Ben didn't get a chance to ponder further because the Huntress had suddenly exploded forwards and slammed him in the guts with her hammer. It was at this point Ben realised two things.

One: The Huntress's weapon acted somewhat like a gravity hammer; in that it could create large amounts of force from the vents on its sides.

Two: The weapon didn't act entirely like a Gravity Hammer, which were limited to only sending force out of one side and only capable of using it to crush things, This girls weapon allowed her to discharge force from the vents on the side to move herself around and close the distance between the two very fast.

The good news was that Ben's shields had held up, the bad news was he was now flying off into the nearby forest.

_Well, she started this fight._

Ben hit the ground hard, but he could deal with it, rolling for a few seconds before righting himself. Battle Rifle drawn, he sent a burst of fire towards where the girl had been.

"Ben above you!" Curie called out, causing the Spartan to look up. The girl hadn't stayed still, electing to blast herself into the air as she went to bring the weapon swinging down towards him.

Ben jumped back and watched as the girl's hammer met the ground hard, it was then Ben realized something about her weapon.

_There's no Shockwave._

This meant a lot, the hammer only seemed to affect what it directly hit, meaning that while it had made a hole in the ground and sent him flying, nothing outside of that had been harmed, provided he didn't get hit, this girl wasn't much of a threat.

He turned and ran as the girl made a wild swing at him, the tip of the Axe head missing his back by a good foot, Spartans were very fast runners by themselves, adding Mjolnir power armour into the mix and they were the fastest moving humans alive.

The girl wasn't hanging about either, following him with several blasts from her weapon; the advantage being she had to aim it behind her and wasn't in a good position to swing it.

Ben suddenly stopped, jerking his arm out to the side; it had the desired effect as the girl slammed into the metal covered arm, her purple aura flashing up on her and dissipating as she crumpled, her weapon flying out of her hands; it was moving with such force that when the glowing Axe head hit the tree's it shattered into shards.

The Woman groaned as she stood up.

"Not bad." She spat before lunging again, this time with her fists as her main form of attack.

Ben blocked the punch, shocked by how fast he had to move to counter her next strike, and every attack after that. One thing was for sure, this girl did not slack off on her hand to hand combat skills. Most Huntresses were reliant on their weapons, too; most being separated would be a big drawback, but for this girl not so much.

She was fast and precise, each fist targeting some vital area, Ben realised that if this girl was a Spartan and fully augmented then she might have stood a chance, hell with a set of Mjolnir she might have even been a match for him.

But she didn't have any of those things, and as soon as his shields fell, he was able to attack her; only holding back when he realised a full force punch to the chin was going to kill her; or shatter it, neither of which was particularly useful traits to have on someone you wanted to interrogate.

She went flying back, colliding with a tree next to where her hammer had broken. Ben realised how close she was and fired a burst at her weapon, sending it flying away in even more pieces.

"Don't even think about it. Surender and come with me, before I seriously hurt you." Ben said, watching the girl. He could see her thinking before eventually she gave up. Curling her fists in anger she punched the ground before forcing herself upwards, stomping towards him, a look of frustration on her face.

Ben slung the Battle Rifle onto his back before reaching for a pair of handcuffs he was keeping in one of his armour's pouches, only to get a shock when she went to punch him in the side of the head.

_Okay enough._

Angrily, he went for his pistol, this girl didn't seem to want to calm down and might only start cooperating when she had a gun pointed at her. He made a point of not shooting prisoners, but this girl seemed unwilling to acknowledge she was one unless she had a weapon trained on her.

Unfortunately, Ben had made a mistake, he thought he had won the fight and was just dealing with a sore loser. He wasn't. He was dealing with an incredibly resilient fighter who had a plan clenched within her other fist.

Ben cried out in pain as something burrowed into his gut, a surge of heat rippling through the body suit. What had happened; how had she done? Then he realised something else, when she'd hit him she had lunged for the Magnum he was holding, using the pain as a distraction to wrestle it out of his grasp and taking it herself.

He didn't get a chance to think, the girl had already expertly primed it and fired a shot at him. It hit his helmet's visor. It failed to penetrate but it threw him off enough for the girl to disappear. He could hear her barrelling through the forest.

Good news, she was running scared, bad news she was armed; with his gun.

"Ben do not remove your helmet!" Curie warned. "Your visibility is impaired, but one shot from that Magnum…"

"…and my head goes splat." Ben finished, scowling behind his helmet; pissed at how messed up his vision was.

"Yes, I'd advise waiting for your shield to regenerate before you attempt pursuit. You should be able to remove the shard of dust that she stabbed you with, it appears to be hot enough that it cauterized the wound."

Ben nodded, reaching down and trying to look at the glowing shard he could now see sticking out of his Mjolnir's body suit. Carefully he pulled it out and examined it. It seemed to be some kind of composite dust, at least partly Burn and thunder, if his time in Beacon Academy's weapon labs had taught him anything.

He looked over and saw the remains of the Huntress's weapon in the corner, she hadn't stopped to grab it, then looking around he examined the shattered remains of the axe portion; he realised she must have grabbed a shard of the Axe when she hit the ground, more importantly, she'd been quick to do it without him seeing her take it.

"The blade must have been completely made of this Dust variety, programmed to shape in an incredibly sharp form. Its heat and shape combined with downed shields must have been enough to penetrate." Curie hypothesized while Ben examined his injury.

It was shallow and more of a burn then a cut, it must not have gotten down very far; but it had clearly been enough.

Ben cursed inside his head, this girl was a pain and now she was in possession of stolen UNSC tech, tech she clearly knew how to use.

"This makes no sense." He muttered darkly.

"You're right, it doesn't." Curie responded darkly. "Something is wrong here Ben,. Remnant, it's just... wrong."

"How do you mean?" Ben groaned as he massaged his burnt side, it wasn't the worst heat related injury he'd ever had, but it still hurt.

"Several errors, Atlas seems to have suffered extensive damage to a large chunk of its surface, Menagerie has a lot more fertile land than anything we know… Something is going on here."

"We'll get our answers when she's back on the Dominion." Ben said, retrieving her weapon, it wouldn't do to leave such a dangerous tool lying around in the forest, though he'd have to be careful to keep it away from her.

He then heard a set of mechanical thumping footsteps, turning around he saw Jorge, he'd hung back on the ship so he could follow them and catch her off guard, he smiled behind his visor.

"Did you get her?" He asked, watching the armoured figure who thought for a second before answering.

* * *

" **SON OF A MOTHER FUCKING!"** Six swore as she ran; her gambit with Mjolnir's blade had paid off but her hand was suffering for it, the sharp break had torn through her hand, burning her muscles and a hole clean through her skin.

Still she had her prize, she quickly detached the guns magazine, she had 7 shots left.

_Guess I'm making these count._

She looked around, as far as she could tell she was alone, although for how long that would stay the case was anyone's guess.

Hastily she checked the rest of the weapon over, happy to see the owner had looked after the gun properly.

_Well on the plus side this thing probably isn't blowing up in my hands._

_Downside the owner is probably going to be really pissed when he catches up with us._

"I should not be on the ground." Six decided, kicking off her heels. In all honesty, she was shocked she'd been able to do what she had without them breaking. Then she looked around, she was in a forest. There must be a decent tree around somewhere.

Deciding on a sturdy looking oak she hiked up her dress (absentmindedly wondering if she'd ever get to wear a formal garment that didn't get wrecked in a fight) and clambered up.

Six liked trees, she didn't spend excessive amounts of time up in them anymore (Mjolnir tended to be more than the average branch could take) but during training they had saved her neck more times than she could count.

_People just don't look up enough._

Quickly Six took off, moving from branch to branch, scanning around for signs of activity in the ground which she soon found.

She smiled as she spotted Jorge moving around, the rest of Noble Team was at the reception and she guessed Ilia must have told them what happened.

She was about to jump down and greet him when something stopped her. A gut feeling; as someone who mostly got by via winging it, her gut was a very important factor in keeping her alive.

Something was wrong here, Jorge just looked off; but she couldn't say why. So, she did something very stupid.

She dropped down anyway, Jorge was Jorge, his armour was custom, and he was already here on her side, no one could have stolen it; so, she was just being paranoid.

At least that's what she thought until he swung a fist at her that knocked her clean out.

* * *

Ben was somewhat shocked to see his ally pointing his gun right at his face.

"Sir, what are you doing?" He asked slowly, looking around for a place to run to if this talk went badly.

He knew Jorge sported a fully unique and heavily customised set of Mjolnir armour, he was for sure looking at his comrade and fellow Spartan 2; but certain things about it were just wrong.

For one thing the Scratches; Ben had helped repair that particular suit, he knew where all the damaged areas were and while some matched up, others did not.

"I could ask you the same thing." Jorge responded.

"I don't understand." Ben responded carefully, trying to move his head as little as possible as he checked for escape routes.

"You attacked Noble Six." He responded simply.

That set off alarm bells in Ben's head, for one thing how had he seen that and secondly…

"Sir, you told me she wasn't Noble Six."

"And when did he tell you that?" A new voice asked; Ben's jaw almost dropped inside his helmet. Another Spartan in bright blue armour had just walked out from the tree line; an Atlesian style robotic arm aiming a magnum at his face.

"On the bridge of the Dominion." Ben responded, struggling to understand what he was seeing; there were more Spartans on Remnant.

"That's the name of your ship?" Jorge asked; gesturing his gun up at the floating frigate.

"Yes." Ben responded before muttering: "Curie, this doesn't make any sense."

"I might have an idea." Curie responded

"Feel like sharing with the class?" Another voice suddenly asked, Ben whirled around to see a third Spartan standing over him. The grey suit might have been unremarkable if not for the fearsome skull scratched into the helmets visor.

Concerned at seeing a third weapon pointed at him (in this case a shotgun) Ben carefully redocked his battle rifle.

"Good, now perhaps we can talk?" A fourth voice said, emerging from the forest behind the skull faced Spartan. A man wearing a dark blue suit, his gun was also on his back and he seemed careful enough. Still he did not like his chances against four other Spartans. Worryingly, this Spartan's armor seemed familiar somehow… like he had seen it a long time ago.

"Yes, that might be for the best." Curie said, projecting over the helmets coms to talk to the full group.

"You have an AI?" The woman in blue asked, her tone implying she was interested in the AI.

"Yes, Curie." Ben explained carefully. "She was just telling me she might have an explanation for what's going on here."

"I'd love to hear it." The Blue Spartan responded.

"If it is all the same to you, I'd respect it if you stopped pointing guns at Monsieur Ben. He means a lot to me and I'd rather he wasn't injured over what I believe to be a misunderstanding."

The Spartans looked at each other before the Blue man nodded.

"You heard her Noble, weapons away." The Squads leader eventually said before the rest of his squad put their weapons on their back. Though Ben didn't fail to notice the Spartan with the skull face had moved one of his hands to the knife holstered on his shoulder armour. Ben lowered his own weapon, there was no sense in instigating a fight he couldn't win, especially against allies.

 _Noble?_ Ben thought. It made some degree of sense, he'd learned about Jorge's old team in training, and he now understood why Carter's armor seemed familiar, still, that didn't explain what they were doing here.

"Thank you." The AI said. "Your armour configurations match my recordings of Noble team; would I be right in assuming that is your designation?"

"You would be correct. You know our names?" The Blue Spartan asked carefully.

"I believe I am in the presence of Carter-A259, Catherine-B320, Emile-A239 and Jorge-052. Is Jun-A266 here?" The AI asked.

Carter thought for a second. "It's not in our best interests to say if our sniper is hidden somewhere to a force that attacked a squad mate; however, you were right about our names."

"Very well. And just to confirm, the girl we encountered earlier, standing roughly one-hundred and seventy-five centimeters, with purple hair and orange eyes is B312 Noble Six." The AI continued, deciding not to press about Jun in case he was around.

"Yeah that's her; do you not have her on file?" Emile asked, a hint of accusation in his voice.

"No, as a matter of fact, I do not possess her information. The information I have for B312 is a Male standing significantly taller with a more natural hair and eye colour." The AI explained. "And I do not believe my records are wrong… I just do not believe they are accurate to this version of Noble Team."

"This version… Do you mean the many worlds theory?" Kat asked, looking up at the Spartan where she knew the AI chip was.

"Based on all the evidence I have collected on this version of Remnant, yes; it is notably different from the Remnant we know; based on how… different, your Noble Six is, is I think you are not from the same space we are from."

"Hold on." Jorge butted in, looking at Ben. "Are you saying multiple versions of us exist… and what, that somehow we both ended up on different versions of the different world?"

"Yes." Curie answered.

"Welp this couldn't get much weirder" Emile commented, only for another Jorge to walkout of the foliage.

Basically, everyone present gasped. The two exceptions being Curie who had just had her theory confirmed and Noble Six; because she was currently unconscious and slung over the Second Jorge's shoulder.

"I… am I seeing things?" Emile eventually asked.

"No, I don't believe you are Noble Four; my theory is just proving to be correct." Curie responded before a dull thump was heard.

The Jorge who lived on the Dominion had dropped his quarry, all thoughts of the Noble Six imposter (who wasn't actually an imposter) was gone; replaced with one simple fact: His team was standing in front of him.

They were here in front of him on Remnant; except Kat's arm was wrong and there was another version of him; all his enhancements and armour and everything.

"Jorge… We have a lot to talk about." Carter said, carefully stepping forward towards the very confused Spartan.

"I, Sir how did you get here?" Jorge eventually asked. "Where is here; there's another me over there and…"

"It's a lot to take in, isn't it Spartan?" Carter said kindly, putting a hand reassuringly on the very confused Spartans shoulder.

"You could say that… Sir I; are you the Carter I knew?"

"Afraid not Noble 5." He said before sighing deeply. "Look, this night has been long and nowhere near as fun as I was promised. We can clear everything up if you return Six."

"I… She's really your Noble Six?" He asked, looking at the heavily scarred teenager he'd dropped.

"I know, she's certainly unconventional." Carter said, smiling up at his friend. "Please, can we talk?"

* * *

"Just to confirm…That all actually happened right?" A recently woken up Noble Six asked, looking around at her squad, complete bemusement on her face.

The nod she got from the rest of her squad led her to one conclusion.

"I… Fucking hell I am nowhere near drunk enough for this shit." Six eventually concluded, kicking her chair back she stood up and strode off towards the bar.

Ben wasn't sure what to make of this situation; He'd already gathered that this version of Noble Team was… unusual as far as Spartans went but this… This was… amazingly unprofessional.

"Aren't you going to call her back?" he asked, looking down at Carter who shook his head.

Ben silently groaned. He did not get this squad; it was weird to think they came from a functionally identical home universe and had both ended up in a similar alternative world. It boggled his mind somewhat; but that he could get. Seeing how well this version of Noble team had adapted to Remnant was… Unusual.

This night was weird, weirder than even he had gotten used to.

Ever Since Noble Six had woken up, they'd returned to the wedding they'd apparently been at to talk about what happened. The lack of secrecy for a Spartan operation was weird, or at least it had been, until Noble Team had used their Semblances to warp away their armour, 3 out of the 4 members having their augmentation vanish only to be replaced with unaugmented humans. The exception was Jorge, who for some reason kept his augmentations. They had said it was something to do with how they were brought over and that Jorge had needed less adjustments to safely occupy Remnant or something along the lines, in all honesty he wasn't fully sure, and something told him he never would be.

Still he could live with this, the logistics of what happened to some of the team while using magic superpowers wasn't an issue, what was; was Noble Six.

Now knowing the woman currently making a beeline for the bar was indeed a Spartan was a fact he was having a lot of difficulty processing.

"She's uh… not the most professional Spartan I've met." Ben muttered. To his shock, Carter nodded.

"You're not wrong. I've read her file, even before she got here, she didn't always do things by the book." He explained. Ben caught notice of how he phrased that sentence.

"Before she came here?" Ben asked.

"I believe she saw no use for UNSC protocol given how the UNSC does not exist in this dimension; based on the information I have been able to gather, she was rather liberal with explanations over our technology and information regarding the fall of Reach." Curie explained, pulling herself out of this Remnant's Atlas military systems. "On an unrelated note, I am happy to report the SDC does not engage in slavery in this dimension."

"You let her do that?" Ben asked; mouth agape under his helmet as he looked at Carter who shook his head while Kat gave an actual answer:

"When we arrived here we were scattered, Carter and I were alone on a tropical island for the first few months, Jorge was in Atlas meeting a polar bear woman and Emile was in Menagerie. we're only here because Six came out to find us; by then, it was too late." Kat explained, leaning back in her chair to look at the standing Spartans (Both of whom were far too tall and heavy to be supported properly) "I'm not complaining, because by the time she found us, she was friendly enough with Atlas to get me this."

She showed off her pale blue prosthetic, curling the fingers into a fist. "It's got better tactile feedback than my old one and it can punch through most walls."

"That sounds useful, but doesn't it bother you that you have a teammate who committed treason against the UNSC?" Ben asked, looking at the group, causing Emile to snort with laughter again.

"It's not like she was telling Covenant how to find earth, she told people stuff like who they were fighting and how not to get killed while messing around with Alien tech, yeah she should have been more careful explaining about the Spartan Program but…"

" **SHE DID WHAT!?"** Ben cried, pure disbelief on his face. "We're one of humanity's most guarded secrets and…"

"If she hadn't said anything, I have a very strong reason to believe she might have stayed the girl she was when she found us." Carter interrupted softly.

"I'm sorry but I don't see how she overrules top secret UNSC military information." Ben responded simply.

"She was a broken girl when she arrived here; she was in a new world and needed to start a new life here, finding other survivors was a start but… Look trust me I've been over her medical records, Reach was bad for her. She wouldn't be able to function as a civilian let alone a huntress." The squad's Jorge responded. "When she found me… She was over the moon, pulled me right into a hug the second she saw me; the girl was practically bouncing off the walls she was so happy. At first I thought that was unusual but the more I learned the more I realised it was the universe finally giving her a break; the weight off her shoulders for once."

"And anyway…" A familiar voice said; Ben glanced around for the speaker, he spotted a small black cylindrical object floating above the Table, it soon lit up orange and an AI hologram materialised in front of her. A full-scale human, decked out in a dress similar to what Six was wearing, ruined only slightly by the large Tricorn hat and Cape she was wearing. "…If you're gonna be pissed at anyone, be mad at me, I'm the reason they're out here in the first place."

"I take it you're Seven." Ben said, recognising the AI Noble Six had been yelling at while she was radioing the Dominion. "You don't appear to be drunk."

"I was, then I realised how mad Six was at me and decided it might be best if I turned my hologram off and hid for a bit, While I was gone I patched myself sober to figure out what I'd done that made Six so mad, then I realised what was wrong, saw you two fighting and ran to get the others."

So, the AI had been drunk, a small thing to focus on but Ben Suspected if he focused on the bigger picture, he was at risk of going mad. So, he stood up.

"I ah, need some air; I'll be back soon."

* * *

"Hey Six." A voice called, Six looked around and smiled as she saw who was approaching the bar.

"Hi Velvet." Six said; smiling at the Rabbit Faunus; looking her up and down she added: "You look good in that dress."

The Rabbit Faunus blushed.

"Thank you Six; I'm just sad I didn't get to make it." She said, looking down at the gown. "I know that's not the point but, I think I want to make one sometime."

"I'm sure she'll love it." Six said as she poured herself a shot, Vodka wasn't her go to drink but tonight she needed something strong.

"Please tell me you're not pulling a Coco." Velvet said nervously as she watched the purple haired girl down her shot.

"No, I've had enough of Coco level drinkers tonight." Six scowled, looking across at the other end of the room at the extra two Spartans.

"Yes, I was going to ask about them…" Velvet said awkwardly as she pointed at a cider on the shelf as the bar keep went to take it.

"Seven called them over." Six said simply. "When I can find her again, I'm sending them and their damn ship home."

"Ship?" Velvet asked nervously. "Do you mean like the thing you and Ilia live in?"

"No, their ship is way bigger than a Vulture." Six said as she pointed out the window. "See that black box up there? That's their home."

Velvet looked where Six was pointing and saw the massive warship; gasping in shock as she began to understand the scale of the vessel.

"I… I… What? How did…"

"I do not know and frankly I don't want to think about it; hence this." Six explained, lifting her vodka bottle up.

"That seems a little… irresponsible." Velvet said awkwardly, eyes wide as she looked up on the ship.

"They aren't hostile." Six said. "Just… really friggin' confused, frankly I don't blame them."

"I… Yeah I get that." Velvet said awkwardly.

"Hey, it's your wedding; go enjoy it. I'll… handle this." Six said dully; looking around and noticing something. "Hey where's Coco; shouldn't the brides be together?"

"Coco says if she goes near the bar the temptation will be too great and she'll end up trashed." Velvet explained as she opened her drink.

"So, she's sticking to that?" Six asked, slightly shocked. Coco passing up the chance to get drunk was like Nora turning down pancakes. Six always knew it was possible, but she was also having difficulty believing it was actually happening.

"Yes, she is." Velvet said, pride on her face.

"Huh, you know if she hadn't started this mess by encouraging Seven to get drunk, I might have a little bit of respect for her." Six said before downing her second shot, slotting the rest of the bottle under her dress for later.

"Do I want to know how you keep things under your dress?" Velvet asked nervously.

"It's not that bad." Six responded, looking over at Velvet, who was still hovering awkwardly. "Did you want to ask me something?"

"Oh!" Velvet gasped going red. "I, well yeah a little bit, see it's just; it's my wedding and I was wondering… are you planning on having one soon?"

"What with Ilia?" Six asked, pausing for a second. "I mean… I'd like that but… I'm not planning on having it soon."

"Why not?" Velvet said hesitantly.

"Cause… because for once I'd like someone else to take the lead." Six explained, sighing. "I know it's stupid but I'm always running in headfirst, I'm coming up with plans and dealing with shit… I want someone else to plan something around me for once you know."

"Have you told Ilia that yet?" Velvet asked, already knowing the answer.

"I… No." Six admitted sheepishly. "It's stupid, I want someone to look after me, but I don't want to stress anyone else out, so I don't tell them."

"You're right Six, that is stupid; so, go tell her that." Velvet said as she stepped away from the bar; about to head back to Coco but before she was gone she stopped and turned around: "When I said I wanted to make someone's dress I meant I wanted to do yours."

"What if I want a suit?" Six asked. "Coco looks great in hers."

Velvet smiled.

"Because I know you Six; no way in hell you don't want a big stupid gown."

Noble Six, last defender of Reach, the only hyper-lethal Spartan III, blushed.

_Velvet knows me too well._

_Yeah, she really does._

"I… Yeah I do want a dress…" Six eventually conceded. "But no heels, I told your wife this was a one-time deal and I meant it."

Velvet nodded and smiled before heading back to Coco. Six smiled as she retreated before she caught a tall silver figure walking outside. Realising the Spartan was leaving, she went to the door. They needed to talk.

* * *

"You okay?"

It was a weird experience, being asked a question by yourself. Jorge wasn't sure he could ever get used to it; then again, he might not have to.

"As well as I can be." He eventually admitted. "Wish I were back on the Dominion; Remnant is crazy but at least some things kind of sense."

The Jorge native to the new planet nodded.

"Yeah, I can see that." He said casually. "Trust me I'm still shocked this is happening, and my life has been crazy since I woke up here."

"What was it like for you?" Jorge asked, looking at the native who looked confused, so he elaborated. "When you first arrived, what was it like? I was lost in Menagerie's desert for quite a while."

"Opposite for me." The other Jorge explained. "I got dumped in Atlas, if my suit wasn't working, I'd have frozen to death before Lucy found me."

"Who?" Jorge asked in confusion, looking at the other him who smiled slightly.

"My Wife; She and some other survivors ended up stuck surviving out of a shipwreck somewhere in the Atlas wastes." He explained, holding up his hand to show off his ring. He smirked as he watched himself process this information.

"I, you have a Wife?" Jorge asked in shock, looking at the other him who nodded.

"Yeah, trust me I'm as shocked as you are." He explained; he then thought for a second. "It's erm… not just her; I have a Son as well."

"You're a dad?" He asked in shock as he nodded back at him.

"Yeah; he's a big kid… Seven's looked into it and it seems he's a little bit of a Spartan himself."

His mind was struggling to cope; somehow learning he had a family was even harder to process then what was in front of him. The other Jorge seemed to notice his counterpart was struggling.

"It's a lot to take in isn't it; seeing them again."

Jorge nodded, looking at his teammates. The three at the table casually talking and… Her.

"I take it she's not like the Six you knew?" The other Jorge asked, a knowing smirk on his face as he nodded.

"No. And I don't just mean the fact she's not a he." Jorge said dully. "I; She was a Spartan right?"

"Yup; helped me storm and plant a bomb on a Covenant supercarrier."

"He did the same… Did you throw her out as well?" Jorge asked, a light grin on his face.

"Yup; Went to blow the ship then the next thing I know I'm here fighting giant monster Saber-tooth's."

"Huh, so our Reach's were similar…" Jorge said before looking darkly down at the ground.

"What is it?" The other Jorge asked, though he could guess.

"I… I know our home's aren't identical but I have to ask; is Reach…?"

"Lost." The Other Jorge said dully, his eyes losing their usual life for a second.

"I… Are we sure?" Jorge asked; the edge of desperation slipping into his voice.

"Six was on the planet while they glassed it." The second Jorge explained.

"I… So, she must have been the last Spartan there, or did everyone else…?"

"You want to know what happened to your teammates." The other Jorge said simply, looking over at himself who nodded.

"The chances of me ever finding out are so low… this might be the only chance I've got to find out."

"I can see that. Well I've confirmed all of this as best as I can with the others… but mostly I know this from Six…"

So Jorge sat and listened while he explained what happened; How an EMP had taken out Kat's shields and made her vulnerable to a Covenant Sniper; How Carter had been critically injured and sacrificed himself and a Pelican to let everyone else continue; How Emile had been killed by an Elite and managed to keep going long enough to bring down his opponent, and how Jun had left to protect Doctor Halsey.

"So, they're alive?" He asked hopefully.

"Six knows Jun is." The Other Jorge responded.

"So, that just leaves her. What happened to your Six."

"The plan was for her to board the Pillar of Autumn with the AI and leave the planet while Emile stayed behind and operated the groundside MAC to hold the Covenant off long enough for the ship to take off; but as I said, Emile died before the ship could take off."

"So, she took over." Jorge guessed; getting a nod of conformation.

"Yup; did her job, the ship left the planet."

"So… she was stuck there."

"Yeah, Apparently she didn't have much of a plan besides fighting as long and hard as she could; Everyone's asked her how long she fought for and she doesn't know; she thinks it went dark once or twice but she's not sure. All I know is an Elite eventually got her after her armour failed."

"So… that's what happened." Jorge said, seemingly lost in thought as he processed everything.

"Wasn't fun for me to learn, though…" The other him hesitated, looking over at the purple haired girl who was making a beeline for the door; apparently done with the bar. "…I wonder what it was like for them."

"You mean going on?" Jorge asked, earning a nod.

"Yeah, my Six… she sort of fell apart. I saw her when she finally tried to tell me Reach was gone, it was… Well she didn't even manage to get the words out before she got overwhelmed by it."

"The mental training doesn't seem to have stuck with her." Jorge noted.

"No it didn't; personally I blame Coco for that." The Other Jorge began to say before his scroll went off. "…Give me a sec."

Jorge watched as he checked his scroll.

"Sorry, looks like I've got to go." The Other explained. "John's tired and we need to go back to our hotel room."

"How old is he?" Jorge asked, almost without thinking.

"Just turned two a few weeks ago… Do you want to meet him?"

Jorge was taken aback.

"I… Well yes, but are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Can't see how it's a bad one." The other Jorge said simply, offering him a hand up.

They moved through the crowd quickly, a few eyes on Jorge as he clunked around in his armour (Unlike his counterpart, he couldn't take off his Mjolnir so quickly) but soon they were at the back door; Jorge hanging back while his counterpart told her what was happening.

He stopped for a second to look Lucy and his kid over. She stood over six foot tall; muscle bound with long blond hair running down her back. The other most noticeable feature about her was the pair of white bear ears she had growing out of her head.

The Kid (John) was different, tall for a two-year-old with a similar pair of ears. That was where the similarities ended; however, his hair was dark and his eyes were; well his.

Soon he was waved over by himself and he moved in.

"Ma'am" He said simply, wishing he could say something a bit more complex.

"Wow, you are my husband, aren't you?" She said weakly, taking in his face and armour. "Sorry just… Wow this is weird to see."

"Yeah I know the feeling." Jorge responded, looking at the sleeping child. "Can I?"

"Sure?" Lucy said; holding the kid out so he could get a better look.

Exceedingly carefully he brought a hand out and touched the child's ears. They twitched and he squirmed slightly in his mother's grip.

"So; he's part Spartan?" He eventually asked.

"As far as we know yeah." Lucy responded, bringing her kid back in. "But he's also a Faunus."

"If he ever gets in a fight he's going to be near unstoppable." Jorge said, thinking about what a Spartan with enhanced senses and in built night vision could do.

"Whatever he chooses to do he'll be great." The Father Jorge said, smiling as he looked down at his kid.

"Yeah…" Jorge muttered before smiling. "I should go. Get him some rest; he looks tired."

He turned to leave not wanting to stay with the family anymore; it wasn't his place.

"Hey!" The other Jorge called out.

Stopping to look behind him he heard:

"If a chance comes up; take it." The other him called out. Jorge thought about what he meant for a second, before nodding.

"I will."

* * *

Six staggered out; her throat burning from the vodka and almost tripping over her stupid heels. No matter how good she supposedly looked in them, this was not worth it.

_Flats all the way from now on; No more friggin' heels._

Steading herself on a wall she looked around, spotting the Spartan she was looking for rather easily; he was lying down atop the stairs of the reception house, his battle rifle out and trained on a wandering Beowolf.

"Do us a favour and don't piss it off." Six said before she could stop herself.

_Great start genius._

"It's a Grimm, why is it even remotely close to this place?" Ben snapped, not taking his rifle off the creature. "And why hasn't it attacked?"

"They've been different for years now; ever since I shot Salem off into space." Six explained, sitting down and smoothing her dress. She knew it must be an odd sight. The horrendously scarred bride's maid sitting down so casually next to the heavily armoured alien super soldier.

"Another irresponsible thing to add to the list I assume." Ben muttered as he got ready to pull his gun's trigger, only for Six to kick the rifle with enough force to knock the magazine loose. Six could tell he was fuming under the helmet. She also didn't care.

"I saved the planet from a Covenant/Promethean invasion, thank you very much." Six responded huffily as the Spartan looked his rifle over to make sure Six hadn't done any damage that might interfere with its functionality.

"What's a Promethean?" Curie asked, her curiosity out of sync with the body she inhabited.

"Forerunner organic-robot… things." Six shrugged. "Only showed up near the end and they were a pain in the ass to deal with; ask Seven."

"Near the end of what?" Ben asked, having asserted that the gun was safe to use again and presumably trying not to think about the orange AI.

"Near the end of an apparently hundreds year old war against an evil witch called Salem. Ask Ozpin about her sometime, long story short we were stopping her and… It wasn't fun." Six sort of explained. She looked down at the ground, playing with the hem of her dress.

"If you saved humanity, you did your job… Or did you do it as a huntress?" Ben asked, looking up at her noticing the angry look on the girl's face.

"What's that meant to mean?" Six snapped.

"You don't seem like much of a Spartan." He responded simply, watching the look of fury on Six's face grow. "Are you that angry because I'm right? You certainly didn't like the implications back in the forest."

"Want to go for a round two?" Six asked, eyeing his pistol again.

"No, just saying you don't seem to want to admit you're not much of a Spartan now."

Six scowl grew deeper before she calmed down, taking a deep breath before speaking.

"I nearly died; we'd just taken down a communication blocker before the place got vaporised with me in it."

"You completed your current objective, there are worse ways to go out." Ben responded simply.

"That was the third time I've died." Six said flatly; that got a raised eyebrow from Ben so she explained. "The first time was when I was three and the Covenant destroyed my home, taking my planet and my family. The second time was on Reach after days of holding out against them, an Elite finally managed to impale me." She turned around, showing him via the dresses exposed back the large unsightly plasma burn that ran through her. "Third was during the Battle of Vale… the last one was the only time the idea of me dying scared me."

"You weren't scared when you lost your family?" Ben asked, surprising Six with the lack of bitterness or anger in his voice for once.

"I was angry then, angry that there were beings so mean and heartless that could do such a thing." Six explained. "Reach… didn't feel like anything, I didn't have anything left to lose; everyone else was dead and all I had left was taking as many Covenant with me as possible. I'm happy to report I made good on that."

"So, what made Vale sad?" Curie asked, determined to get all the information she could on this version of Six now she was actually talking.

"Because I hadn't lost everything, I'd put considerable effort into building a life here, tracking everyone back down and trying to help them; falling in love; my girlfriend was on the ground waiting for me; My friends were all still fighting and I was just… gone. Woke up back in UNSC space actually."

Ben was shocked, she'd found a way back?

"Actually, not just in UNSC space, right near Jun, the one guy who's fate I never knew. Out of everywhere I could have been I was near him; we didn't talk long; but I found out something, humanity won."

"Won what? The fight at Reach?" Curie asked, not convinced that could be the answer.

"The Human Covenant war, like the whole thing; Spartan John 117 ended it, almost single handedly; teaming up with the friggin' Elites of all people."

"Wait, what! I, What?" Ben asked, struggling to process all this information he was learning.

"Yeah, didn't get the full details outside of the fact they turned against the Covenant and helped humanity turn the tide; oh and here's the kicker: My last mission on Reach was to take an AI to the Pillar of Autumn; where 117 was; I gave him the rest of his AI. He found the super weapon that helped end the war, He did it because of me and my team, we did it, we made a difference… I made a difference, staying behind on a doomed planet to die saved the human race."

Ben nodded awestruck; this was a lot to take in, but he might have attacked one of the saviours of humanity; even if she was an indirect saviour.

"So, knowing all that, do you want to know what was going through my head? After learning all that, that the war I wanted to fight was over and I'd helped win. Do you want to know what I was thinking?

"I'm not done with Remnant yet?" Ben asked, understanding the feeling of not wanting to leave Remnants innocents to die even if a chance to go home came up.

"Kinda?" Six shrugged. "To be honest I didn't care about Earth, or the humanity I left behind… Don't get me wrong, I'm so glad that war is over, and that me and my team helped win it; I'm serious I really am. But everyone who meant something to me was back on Remnant, I didn't care about UNSC space anymore…"

"Your duty was to protect humanity… so why do you seem so apathetic when it comes to doing your job the right way?" Ben asked, looking at the girl who shrugged.

"Cause I'm also human, I guess? Took me a while to relearn that, and once I did, I didn't want to be who I was again… I didn't want to go back." She looked down at the ground, playing with her dress more as she spoke.

"What do you mean, I thought you liked being a Spartan?" Ben said simply. "If you don't you get very upset about not being one."

"Yeah… I know. Look how many missions have you ran back in UNSC space?" Six asked; wondering if even the number was classified.

"None." Ben responded flatly. "The Dominion was my first official posting."

"Fair, working on a ship, that's a respectable enough post. Want to know what my first official job was?" Six said, then speaking louder so she could drown out Ben's protest. "I was an ONI assassin. I went out and killed whoever they told me too. Often humans. Think about that for a second, you're a III right, Gamma company I assume?"

Ben nodded.

"Awesome, I'm B312, so I was with Beta, got the same offer all of us got, train to fight back against the Covenant; take revenge on those fuckers who destroyed our lives and burn them to the ground. I wanted that so badly; I wanted to be a Spartan, to save humanity. And after pushing myself so hard to be the best of the best want to know what fucking happened? Well I already told you didn't I; I killed Humans, people ONI didn't like or want around. I was a fucking murderer! And I didn't give a shit. I was just the weirdo Spartan who got all her emotions muffled due to an augmentation error, the one glitch in an entire batch; but that's fine, turn her into a monster anyway! It's not like she matters!"

Six's fists were clenched tight now as she took a moment to stabilize herself.

"All my documents over here will tell you Noble Six is my legal name, It's not back in UNSC space, In UNSC space my name was Bethany. I didn't like being her." Six explained. "She was the girl who lost everything, she was the girl who attacked an entire squad in ways that put them in the hospital during training matches, she's the girl who crushed everyone to be better. She's the one who put down so many people who didn't deserve to be put down; maybe they were causing problems but more likely the one **FUCKTARD!** "

She paused, took a deep breath, and continued.

"Who had control over me just didn't like them. I… fuck she was a broken monster who didn't care. Want to know who Noble Six was? She was who Bethany became, she was the hero of Reach, she was brave, she fought the Covenant, she was who I wanted to be; the fucking Spartan hero I signed up to be! The brave; the courageous… I, the fucking…"

Ben watched as the purple girl collapsed into a sobbing mess. He wondered if she'd ever told anyone this before.

"The Spartan who thought she'd done enough on Reach, the girl who could die knowing she'd tried; knowing that at least by the end she'd figured out how to be a Spartan. The girl who got a second chance."

Her face was still tear stained, her eyes still red. But her mouth was smiling.

"When I got here I knew I was Six more than Bethany when I looked at myself, I was my armor's colours, Purple and orange just like I'd painted it; It was great; I was me. And as Noble Six operated on Remnant she made friends, found the squad she thought she'd lost; fell in love; and then…"

"She died?" Ben finished, looking at the girl who nodded.

"I left them… I left them in that mess, in the middle of a fight, I couldn't bear it, as soon as the chance to go back came I took it, didn't even have to think. Left Jun behind and came home. I flew a friggin' Longsword into a Grimm Dragon, I fought my way back up to my friends, I fought hard and long, I lost my armour, but I won, I saved Remnant, I was a hero and my life was ahead of me… It was amazing; I'd never got victory's like that. Life went my way here, I got to be the Spartan I always wanted to be."

She had leant back and relaxed by now.

"Then… then another UNSC ship showed up and I was terrified, I didn't want to go back, my life was here but… I had to help them if I could and well… you know the rest." She finished.

Ben looked at the girl next to him. She wasn't what he'd expected based on what Jorge had told him about his teammate. Then again, Remnant did seem to like throwing him curveballs.

He thought hard, he wanted to say something to her, but he couldn't override one point in his mind.

"Noble Six… to be frank with you, I don't think you're a Spartan; not anymore." He held out a hand to stop her protesting. "No, you're not, to be honest based on what you've said the Spartan side of Noble Six died on Reach… It seems like she gave out when that Elite killed you. I'll admit I don't even have close to a full story on what happened to you but… You saved Remnant; but I'm not sure you were a Spartan, I think this planet's crazy got to you."

"The hell does that mean?" she asked, a slight laugh in her voice.

"I think it means Noble Six is a damn good Huntress, and she should be proud of that fact." He said simply, watching her as she processed what he said.

"I… Thanks; I think." Six said before she reached down and retrieved her Vodka. She was about to neck it but then she hesitated, offering it to the Spartan.

Ben looked at the bottle in confusion.

"I'm not allowed to get drunk on duty." Ben said weakly.

"Dude we both know full well you can't get drunk; seriously just have some." Six insisted, shoving the bottle towards his face.

"I would advise you to just go along with her instruction, Ben." Curie said simply. "My digging into her history seems to suggest she can be stubborn when she wants to be."

"Damn right I can be." Six said, still holding the bottle out, an annoying grin on her face.

Ben sighed; deciding to just go along with it. He reached up and pulled off his helmet. As per usual it was weird to feel the cool air on his bare skin.

Ben looked at Six's reaction, most people who saw his face had a fairly similar reaction: Shock before realising they were being rude and trying to hide their reaction. Noble Six didn't do that, she just looked more awed than anything else.

"Younger than I was expecting… So, what's the story there?" Six asked, in much the same way as one might ask about a picture on someone else's wall.

"Grazing shot from a Plasma Rifle, I was three years old." He said, then figuring it would be okay, he gestured at the spider web of scars across her face and asked: "What about you?"

"Woman by the name of Cinder Fall; she had some weird bug Grimm in her hand, shot goop on my face; didn't see the rest 'cause I passed out. Just knew when I woke up, I had more scars to add to the collection and no more Semblance."

"She stole your Semblance?" Curie asked.

"Tried too." Six said, a cruel smirk on her face. "Thing was, she tried to pump herself full of Spartan Augmentations as a fully-grown adult, I'm told the results were... messy."

Thinking back to the horror stories he'd heard from Jorge about failed Spartan II augmentations, he gave a short nod, He then noticed Six was staring at the bottle in his hand; making Ben remember why he had taken his helmet off in the first place He took it and downed a glug… an experience that he quickly regretted.

"Agh, you drink this stuff, for fun?!" He gasped, wondering why the hell anyone would drink that vile liquidas he set the bottle down and tried to get his throat back to normal.

"Yup, probably should have warned you that it had a bit of a kick." Six said, smirk still firmly in place as she took the bottle back, taking a gulp and smiling. "But I figured a Spartan could handle his drink better than a simple Huntress."

"Then I guess it must be a Huntress thing then." Ben said, smirking as he put his helmet back on.

"Guess it must be." Six said, looking down at her dress and smiling. Then she stood up. "Welp, no offence to you but I'm off to find my girlfriend, you and your crew have kept me away from her too much tonight; I'll leave you two alone now."

"We need to talk to the Dominion." Ben said simply. "Tell them what we now know."

"Really, you're just going to get back to work?" Six asked, slightly incredulously.

"Yes, why what would you do; build another stupid hammer?"

Six snorted.

"Two things: One, insult Mjolnir again and I'm taking out your ship; and Two: If I had a hot French girl living inside my head, I would be doing so many things. Frankly I'm amazed you're not."

"I don't understand" Ben said, his obliviousness practically unwavered.

Six looked at him, a slightly lost expression on her face.

"Seriously dude, you plug the girl right into your skull for years and that's all you feel? Look, the only AI I've ever had in my head is Seven, and I can get not wanting her around in there; but you two… Seriously nothing?"

Looking at the blank expression Ben was communicating (Spartans/former Spartans were very good at reading body language) Six sighed. Curie was also dead silent, which somehow communicated far more than Ben's silence.

"Whatever, I'm off to go make out with my girlfriend. You two… Go do something I dunno." She said, throwing her hands up into the air and going to re-joining the Party… promptly tripping up because she'd drank more than she'd realised and could barely stand in heels normally; let alone when she had several shots of vodka in her system.

"Do you hear that Ben? I'm hot." Curie proudly said.

"Don't let it get to your head." Ben replied with a chuckle.

* * *

The Dominion didn't leave until the next morning; Seven had to spend a good chunk of the night scanning through her memory to figure out exactly what she'd done. Apparently, the coordinates she'd picked out had been so long and confusing she couldn't make sense of them anymore.

"To be honest Dominion, I'm not ever sure how I found you in the first place." The AI explained. "I would try and send you back to your space, but these coordinates already don't make any sense, I wouldn't even know where to look."

"We understand Seven." Bradford responded. "Just get us back; we already have our work cut out for us on Remnant."

"Will do; Good luck Dominion, and seriously so sorry for pulling you over."

"You're forgiven Seven. Just, please, don't do it again. Those people… they need us, whether they know it or not."

"I won't; Okay brace for the return trip." Seven responded as she began to glow, communicating with the rings.

"You know this mess has got me thinking about something…" Six said as the Dominion disappeared into the orange rings of light.

"Yeah, what's that?" Ilia asked, looking at her girlfriend who blushed.

"It's kind of silly but I was just thinking; Two lots of Spartans getting dumped on different versions of Remnant is a really big coincidence, right? Well I was just thinking; what if we're not the only group?"

"I… Guess that could be possible." Ilia answered thoughtfully.

"I like that idea personally." Kat said from the side. "Anywhere that has a Salem could do with a few Spartans to kick ass for them."

"Yeah… Man she is so screwed if this is a common thing." Six said, smirking as Ilia gently took her hand and pulled her into the main hall; there was food to be eaten and booze to drink; Other worlds weren't here responsibility.

**Elsewhere, on Remnant No.3**

Eighty years ago, the bloodiest battle on Remnant had taken place across the barren wastelands of Vacuo. Even so many years later, mankind and it's mortal enemies had failed to match the earlier devastation wrought during such a brutal, bloody engagement, all until the Sacking of Salem's Castle.

From an outside perspective, it was as if a tornado of fire and brimstone had torn the structure apart. But hundreds of craters and splintered boulders marked the aftermath of a battle fought between an army of Grimm and the combined efforts of one of the most devastating military units in history, Noble Team. Had the Grimm left any remains, the corpses of thousands of them would've scattered the ground.

Leading up to Salem's throne room were the bloodied remains of Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black, who had not noticed as their superior fled and left them to die. Despite the impossible odds they faced, they fought with a shred of dignity, something that the Spartans of Noble team had noticed as they effortlessly brought the duo down with supreme tactical efficiency.

Not twenty meters down the hall was the small pile of ash that was all that remained of Cinder. Even leaving her subordinates as a sacrifice had not extended her life for more than a few seconds, as the full force of a Spartan Laser burnt her to a crisp, a fitting fate for the former Fall Maiden. The Spartans did not even get an opportunity to see her magical powers, as she had been vaporized so quickly.

The door to Salem's throne room marked another corpse, that of Tyrian Callows. Salem's most loyal servant had fittingly died in her defense, and had managed to put up a more lengthy fight than some of his contemporaries. Still, even with his talents he had been unable to escape the high-velocity round from a DMR that Carter had lodged firmly into his cerebellum.

Salem had proven to be a more serious challenge, as her unpredictable magic had forced them to improvise somewhat, but Carter was satisfied with the ingenuity of his team.

"There, that should hold her down." Kat said, adding one final knife to the forest of objects that they had assembled with Salem's limbs. She'd stopped screaming long before the Spartans were done, but Carter had to imagine that at least some of her nerves were still working.

"Good, go check on Six and… Thom." Carter replied.

Having been handed two Noble Sixes was something of a blessing, but also a conversational nightmare. Having the original members of Noble team from Alpha Company back created similar issues, but the problem with Thom and Six was the most pronounced. Still, Carter was absolutely thrilled to have a force of twelve Spartans, not to mention long-lost friends, on his team.

"Have Jun keep a look out for any more of those Grimm contacts, and let Emile start working on the Doctor." Carter added. "And uh, remind him that we need the egghead alive, please."

"Copy that Commander." She happily announced.

There was a notable levity in her voice even despite the rather brutal battle that they had just fought, as well as Carter's rather morbid instructions. But he couldn't help but return the positive feeling, even despite his veneer of professionalism, he was happy to be alive, and even happier to have his team back.

In truth, Carter didn't have a single fathom of an idea as to why he or his team were alive, much less on a planet with magical beings and demonic monsters. But it was reassuring to know that even death itself couldn't stop his team. Although his mind raced with a billion questions, he fixed on the only critically important one as he looked the wounded witch in the eyes.

"I'm looking for a man, Jorge-052, I want his location and his status." Carter said.

"You're wasting your time, hero!" She spat back defiantly, and with a hint of bitter sarcasm. "I have endured an eternity of pain, whatever you plan on doing is nothing compared to-"

Carter drew his magnum and placed it against her temple. "I want you to think about everything you've seen today, about how well your army did against us. Do you really want to take a chance against us, do you really think we won't find a way to kill you?"

Maybe it was fact that he and the other eleven other members of the now-expanded Noble team had plowed through an entire army of her demonic creatures, or how easily they had butchered her human minions. Or maybe it was the cold, unflinching visor that he stared back into, but Carter saw fear flicker in the eyes of an immortal being.

 _Huh, maybe I do need to calm down a bit…_ Carter thought, reflecting on the ease at which he had given out some of his more recent brutal orders. Regardless of his personal conflicts, Salem was quick to answer to his demands.

"You're on the wrong side of Remnant if you want the answer to that question." Salem said. "You'll want to speak to Ozm… Ozpin, at Beacon Academy, in Vale."

Carter silently stared at the expression in the pale, monstrous being's eyes, before turning and walking out of the room. He would've slammed the door in the witches' face, but unfortunately, Emile had already blown both of them in splinters. He reached for his commlink orders, and issued a single set of instructions.

"Noble, listen up." He began. "Gather up your gear and secure any prisoners, we're taking the dropship on the landing pad and heading out."

With a moment's pause as he thought of what to say to address the undoubtable concerns of his Spartans, he only had one thing to say. "ONI says Spartans never die, and apparently they're right. So let's take our newfound immortality, find our missing man, and head home."

A series of acknowledgements rang out across the comms. From the short, professionally spoken "Yes Sir" of Noble Six, to the more well thought out "Let's go get the big guy back!" From Emile, Carter was sure of one thing.

He had Noble Team back, and nothing was going to stop them now.

No version of Remnant could ever stop Spartans.

**Actual Author's notes here:**

**Playererror404 here; just wanted to say thanks for reading; The idea for this came up because I often make jokes about my Six interacting with Ben and just how many rules she broke over the course of 'Remnants of a Spartan'**

**Speaking of which I just want to comment on my story for a sec now I have the chance (well that and I've needed to vent for a bit):**

**Number 1 - If you are interested in reading it you can do so; but just know I didn't have a concrete plan going in; what plan I did have changed when I got too attached to the characters and didn't want to kill any of them and lastly: I didn't edit most of the early stuff; the thing is a typo and grammar error riddled mess.**

**Number 2 - My Six is as stated above: Not written to be like most versions of Noble Six. I suspect you know that already having read this omake but let me just clarify - The inaccuracies are intended; I didn't want to write another brooding badass in black armour; no shame on people who enjoy those guys they're fine I just don't think they're great story leads; so I decided mine should be interesting… even if I may have overdone it in places.**

**(Also this might just be me but when I play Reach my Six isn't a cool confident badass; they're a complete moron who dies to stupid things and wastes time driving forklifts around and getting cars stuck in elevators)**

**Number 3 - She wears purple and Orange because that's how I colour my Spartans in Halo.**

**Number 4 - I got lore stuff so wrong it's not funny and you can mostly blame me being stupid/not checking stuff. For example I got the idea (Somehow) that Spartans were sterile and wrote that as a plot point.**

**Number 5 - The thing is infested with Lesbians. I will not say this is a problem; only that a lot of them stop being relevant/add nothing so I was letting my shipping instincts override my common sense and most of it goes nowhere long term. (still mostly no regrets, Coco and Velvet get a lot of the best scenes in the thing)**

**Number 6 - I know Omni Gel is from Mass Effect, everyone has told me already. You don't have to, see Number 4 for details.**


	11. "A glimpse of something greater"

**By Kpmh2001**

**UNSC Dominion, Brig**

Each time that Ben visited their captive Elite, he was given the impression that the alien warrior was steadily losing his mind. Intricately constructed drawings now decorated every wall of Set's cell, each affixed by a small piece of tape. The drawings ranged from those of weapons and warships, to complex, strange iconography that Ben didn't understand. The small garbage can in the corner was so filled with discarded drawings that it was overflowing. Despite the rapidly deteriorating state of his room, Set himself was well-kept.

 _He's probably just waiting for us to let our guard down, strike when he gets the chance._ Ben thought as he opened the door.

Set didn't even bother looking up from his current work until Ben cleared his throat. "Ah, Demon, wait just one moment."

Ben patiently waited for about a minute as Set finished the outline of what he was working on, before putting the paper aside and turning towards Ben. "There, that is good. Now, what do you want, Demon?"

"My friend wanted to discuss something with you." Ben flatly answered.

"It is most… unusual, to make your acquaintance, Set 'Vadum." Curie said, using Ben's helmet speakers to communicate. "I am Curie."

Set was clearly taken aback by the drastically different voice coming from Ben's armor, but quickly realized what was happening, with his face settling into what Ben could only guess was a scowl.

"An ancilla…" Set said, a hint of realization in his voice. Ben didn't recognize the word, but it was probably just a bad translation. "I did not know that your kind could inhabit the demons, Curie. Unless perhaps, you are actually two unggoy in a suit of armor!"

 _Ok, I'll give him that one, it was kind of funny._ Ben thought, although he didn't budge his posture even a bit as Set chuckled to himself.

"We have deliberately set out to limit the Covenant's knowledge of Artificial Intelligences, that is not a surprise." Curie pointed out. "But I am afraid that is not what I wanted to ask you about."

Set gave a shrug that still held a shred of smugness to it. "Speak your mind Curie, but I cannot promise an answer."

 _Over a month in the brig, and he's still got an attitude like this._ Ben thought. _I bet his superiors hated him more than we do, they've probably been celebrating ever since he left._

"During an earlier questioning session, you mentioned that you lacked any considerable knowledge in the field of Slipspace." Curie stated.

Set cocked his head, as if already knowing what she was going to say. "I do not know how to get you home. If I did know, I would have told you already."

"You would?" Curie asked, making her surprise evident. "I thought that your set of beliefs prohibited you from aiding us?"

Set let out a groan of annoyance. "This may come as some surprise to you, but I do not enjoy sitting in this cell. Although my odds of returning to my people would be admittedly low, they would be better than the guaranteed failure that I am faced with now."

Suddenly, Ben empathized a lot more with the Elite. He was just trying to find a way to accomplish his mission, and even though it meant breaking his code of honor, and practically guaranteeing himself a traitor's welcome if he returned, he was still willing to do it for the sake of the mission.

 _If I was in his shoes, sitting with critically valuable intelligence in a Covenant cell, would I cooperate for a chance to return home and complete my mission?_ Ben mentally asked himself, but he was unable to produce an answer. Obviously cooperating with the enemy was unacceptable, but to complete a mission critical to humanity's survival?

"That does make a great deal of sense." Curie said. "But even if you lack any knowledge in the field of Slipspace, that does not mean you could not potentially help us, and by extension, help you."

Set groaned with undisguised frustration, visibly rolling his eyes in the process. "Very well, ancilla, what do you want?"

Even though he couldn't actually see her face, Ben could tell that Curie had a wide grin as she goaded the Elite into cooperating. "Do your people know anything about other realms besides our own, and Slipspace?"

Set's eyes narrowed and he bowed his head slightly, as he genuinely seemed to put some thought into the topic. "You speak of those that the gods spoke of, such as Shunspace, or the Glow?"

Curie's silence was somewhat concerning, as it could only mean one thing, she had no idea what he was talking about.

It seemed that Set was actually able to guess that, and sat back against his bed frame as he sighed in frustration. "Retrieve the helmet of my combat harness, I know that you have kept it somewhere, and we will need it."

Curie was unable to bite back her exclamation of excitement. "Are you going to permit me to access your helmet's data?"

"Temper your expectations." Set grumbled. "Unless you seek to gain wisdom from outdated field manuals and cryptic religious texts from before our time, you will be disappointed."

"I would not say so." Curie cheerfully replied. "I have always wanted to learn more about the culture of the Covenant!"

"What, were the briefings not enough for you?" Ben cheekily asked, before looking at Set one last time. "I'll be right back, don't try anything funny."

Set huffed with amusement. "Believe me human, if I did intend to break out of this cell, you would not be laughing."

Ben left Set's cell, and made his way to the Starboard Armory, where all of Set's personal belongings were Ben had actually seen Set's armor before, he had forgotten that the Elite apparently opted to use the traditional combat harness, rather than the more ornamental set that he had studied in training.

The combat harnesses were the far more common variant of armor that the Elites wore, and had a reputation amongst UNSC infantry of producing a frustratingly tough shield, especially for an Ultra like Set.

 _Practicality over style, perhaps he's got some brains after all._ Ben thought as he retrieved the helmet.

When Ben returned to Set's cell, he handed over the helmet. Set gave his helmet a brief inspection, seemingly searching for damage, but found none. "You have not tried to access the contents?"

"I could certainly try, but I was reluctant to, as the failsafes inside the data drive would destroy the information." Curie explained. "Lieutenant Thomas was able to retrieve your name from the system, but that is all that he could do safely."

Set let out an unexpected chuckle as he turned the helmet around and manipulated the controls. "There are no failsafes on my combat harness, the information within does not necessitate them. Although I am happy to hear that the decoy works."

 _Damn, Curie was fooled by something?_ Ben thought, genuinely surprised, she had a nearly spotless record for solving problems. Although she remained silent, he could practically feel the sense of frustration that radiated from her.

Once Set turned the helmet on, he withdrew a small white device, and offered it to Ben. "Here, I hope whatever you find will bring us back to your home, so that I may return to mine."

Ben took the device into his hand, and Curie immediately set to work accessing the drive using his armor. While she did that, Ben opted to respond to Set's comment. "You know that we aren't just going to let you go, right?"

"I am well aware, but no matter the odds, I will accomplish my goal." Set confirmed. There was not a hint of malice in his words, only determination.

Again, Ben found himself drawing comparisons between him and Set. Both of them recognized that their missions were more important than their lives, and although the Covenant certainly seemed to be more willing to sacrifice their soldiers for sucide missions, Ben was not blind to the true goals of the Spartan III program.

 _Stop thinking about it, he's the enemy, he has nothing to relate to!_ Ben stubbornly reminded himself, banishing the thoughts from his mind.

"Then again, perhaps I could negotiate a deal with your leader." Set added. "If I were allowed to return home, my information would surely result in the Jiralhanae being ejected from the Covenant, which would offer your people a moment of peace!"

 _He sounds oddly confident in that._ Ben thought, wondering if Richard would actually consider such a proposal.

"With their musclebound idiots gone, the Prophets may even deem you worthy of joining our ranks." Set continued, seemingly undeterred by Ben's silence. "Although I admit, I could not possibly predict what they would decide upon."

"Given some of their earlier decisions, I think we'll take our chances." Ben sternly replied. He switched his microphone off, allowing him to speak privately to Curie. "Anything useful in there?"

"More than you could possibly imagine." Curie happily answered, before speaking to Set once more. "Thank you Set, I will do my best to bring us all home."

There wasn't a hint of humor in Set's response. "I will pray for your success, Curie, if only for the sake of my people."

"Oh, how helpful…" Ben cynically said, before turning to leave.

Set laughed as Ben left his cell. "For once Demon, you speak with a shred of reason!"

Ben closed the door behind him, wondering exactly what that was supposed to mean.

**Later**

**The Dominion, Foundry**

It turned out that Ben's knowledge on the subject of traveling into an eleven-dimensional space and using it to access other realities was unsurprisingly limited, meaning that Curie was more or less the only person capable of actually pulling any worthwhile information from Set's data drive. While she quietly worked inside his head, he made himself useful in the Dominion's Foundry, where it seemed his experience in maintaining and repairing armor frequently came in handy.

"Any major revelations?" Ben asked as he inspected the utterly demolished remains of several components of body armor, including the components that he had removed from Jorge's suit of Mjolnir. While they could fabricate news parts, doing so would take valuable time that could probably be used for more important things.

 _This place was made to build radios and assault rifles, not sterile field generators and gravity plating._ Ben thought. _The Engineers down here aren't going to get a day off for years..._

"Well… sort of." Curie answered after a strange moment of silence. "All of the relevant information that Set promised is actually buried in Covenant Holy Texts. With no other alternative, I must translate it all into a legible format."

"Doesn't the standard translation kit work?" Ben asked. His HUD also included a translation kit that was standard issue amongst Spartans and ODSTs, allowing them to understand the words of the Covenant's languages.

"That is not the issue, perhaps I should clarify what I mean." Curie said, a hint of irritation in her voice, although Ben could tell it wasn't directed at him. "The actual texts themselves are made up of the same language, but because they are full of reverence and praise for the fictional Covenant gods, I am finding it very difficult to actually deduce valuable intelligence from it."

Ben chuckled. "I understand, you have my sympathy."

The Covenant were well known amongst UNSC service personnel for their confusing, often nonsensical beliefs. It was to be expected from an alien organization presumably built up from many different religions, but that didn't make it any less unusual. Curie had the stomach for human religion and its historical significance, but it seemed that her patience had its limits.

"I believe I am starting to make some progress, although I will need some more time." Curie said. "I will let my subroutines manage that, and make my presentation to the Commander later."

"Whatever you think works best." Ben said, although frankly, he didn't understand entirely what she was talking about.

"But I found something else, and I believe you may find it a bit more interesting." Curie said.

She posted a large wall of blue text onto his HUD, causing Ben to pause his work as he skimmed the contents.

"Declaration of Holy Inspiration?" Ben asked, reading off the title of the largest portion of the text.

"It would appear that Set neglected to inform us that his entire military career is logged inside of this datadrive." Curie stated, adding context to what Ben was looking at.

Ben instantly understood the value of Curie's discovery, every major action that Set had ever undertaken was now in their hands. "We should inform Lieutenant Oswald."

"Do not worry, I will message him with the new discovery." Curie replied, easing his worries. "But you and I can take this opportunity to learn more about Sangheili culture, from a more neutral source."

Ben returned to working while he spoke. "You don't think that a Covenant field report would be exaggerated?"

"I fail to see why it would, these are internal reports." Curie said, although she lacked a great degree of confidence in her words. "Although I do find it funny that the uncensored files exist in Set's helmet, even though he lacked the clearance to access them in their entirety."

 _And it's not like clearance levels are a problem for Curie._ Ben thought, momentarily reminiscing about how she would constantly irritate whichever ONI A.I was in charge of Zone 76 back on Onyx with her ability to make any digital defenses into confetti with little effort.

"Ah, I have found something of considerable interest." Curie happily reported. "Apparently, Set was involved in a raid to recover a one-of-a-kind Covenant artifact early in his career."

"That's not too out of the ordinary." Ben pointed out, the Covenant were known for going to extreme lengths to recover strange objects and knicknacks.

"It is not, but the circumstances around it certainly are." Curie replied. "Apparently, Set was involved in a violent battle between two "keeps" of Elites on Sanghelios."

Ben shifted his posture in surprise. "Your saying that the Elites were having an insurrection?"

"Well, technically no, apparently." Curie answered. "You see, the rival faction that Set was fighting was only declared heretics after their conflict."

 _Maybe just some infighting that got out of hand?_ Ben thought. "What were they fighting over?"

"Well, that's apparently up for debate, but it is widely considered a continuation of an existing rivalry." Curie answered. "But this is without a doubt the most interesting part, apparently, the rival keep was secretly holding the very first plasma rifle."

Ben raised an eyebrow. "The first?"

"The Type-25 plasma rifle is revered as a holy weapon, and is apparently based off of a weapon used by the gods… although I doubt that last part very much." Curie explained. "As such, the original is considered a relic of substantial importance."

 _I imagine the Misriah Engineer who made the first Assault Rifle prototype probably didn't place that much value into it._ Ben thought. "That's interesting."

"Indeed, and apparently Set was actually the one to make the discovery, we should ask him about it when we get a chance!" Curie said, practically about to burst with excitement.

"But then he'd know that we have his service record in our hands, we might want to keep that card close to the chest." Ben pointed out.

There was a moment of silence before Curie responded. "I suppose I see the logic in that. I will submit a request to Thomas, hopefully he will permit us to inquire further about Set's military career."

"That sounds like a good idea." Ben said, double-checking things with Command was rarely a bad suggestion. "What about where we are, with all that Slipspace stuff?"

"That… will take me more time." Curie reluctantly admitted. "I am a scientist, not a pastor."

Ben chuckled. "Hell, if you were preaching, I might actually listen."

There was an awkward moment of silence before Curie replied, her voice rich with mixed emotions. "Thank you?"

"You're welcome." Ben replied. "Let me know if you make any more big discoveries, I'm going to see if this atmospheric seal is actually salvageable."

 _Valuable scrap, if nothing else._ Ben thought as he held the small Mjolnir component, even as ruined garbage, the material used in its creation was of exceptional quality.

"And I shall continue to decipher this staggeringly unscientific jargon." Curie replied. "Hopefully, I will have a more robust Covenant vocabulary by the time I am done."

"If you find any swear words, don't tell the ODSTs." Ben joked.

"I would not dream of it." Curie replied, her voice making it clear that she was amused.

**Author's Notes: Although I have big plans for Set, I struggle to blend him into the main chapters, which is a shame, because he's easily one of my favorite characters to write. In that respect, Unusual Paperwork is a godsend, especially in regards to backstories and history.**


	12. "I loosed damnation upon the stars…"

**By Kpmh2001**

**Dominion Archive:**

**Please Insert Credentials**

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**Credentials Verified**

**Authorization Code Foxtrot Bravo One Eight Six Three**

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**Access granted**

**Warning! The following information is classified; Level Appollyon.**

**Unauthorized observation of this material will be considered an act of high treason.**

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**Clearance level authorized**

**Loading message**

**Title: Future weapons development, and potential equipment modernizations**

**Authored by: UNSC A.I CUR-02102 "Curie"**

Good evening Commander, I hope this message reaches you at a convenient time. My apologies for the high degree of encryption on this file, as well as the top-degree of security clearance. As per the "Last Man Standing" protocol, your security clearance has been updated accordingly.

The development of weapons development and technological advancement as a whole across Remnant has been accelerated dramatically by our arrival. Thanks to your approval, I have begun making efforts to bring Remnant's rather poor education system up to modern standards. Although I can certainly not accomplish this alone, I have secured the assistance of numerous politicians, scientists, Huntsmen, and Doctors across Remnant to assist me with this task.

These individuals include, but are not limited to: Headmaster Ozpin of Beacon Academy, Doctor Larsen of the Kuana Regional Hospital, Secretary of Education for the Kingdom of Vale Laura Roslin- (list truncated due to length, click here for complete list of cooperating individuals).

Lieutenant Oswald expressed concern about losing control of certain military advancements, and proposed a solution in order to maintain our operational security. Our research and development efforts will be split into two separate task forces. Task Force Minerva, which will handle general civilian education, and Task Force Athena, which will handle weapons and military technology development.

Task Force Minerva is currently tasked with a complete overhaul of Remnant's global education system, which we predict will take upwards of ten years for administrative changes alone. Should we find a way to commision additional Dumb A.I units, we could employ them to dramatically speed this process up. Regardless, the universities and institutions of learning on Remnant will need time to modernize themselves before we can begin effective cooperation.

Although Task Force Athena's staff currently only consists of only myself and the Engineering staff of the Dominion's Foundry Facility, I have devised a number of projects and programs to develop new equipment to counter the challenges posed by Remnant. As you are well aware, certain tactical obstacles will require new equipment to overcome our enemies in the field.

Task Force Athena currently possesses no objective, which you will need to provide before we can pursue any development efforts. Furthermore, we currently only possess the manpower to pursue one development at a time, which you should bear in mind before you make your decision.

Should we see a need to expand our development efforts, we will need to recruit additional personnel from a very limited number of Remnant-Native candidates. I personally recommend a case-by-case basis for these personnel, based on the needs of each project. A good example would be the development of ARM Propellant in conjunction with Beacon Academy and team RWBY.

**Proposal One: Dust Projectiles**

The first potential development is a fairly obvious one, suggested by Lieutenant Commander Bradford, that being the adoption of Dust munitions. Remnant has long since operated off of Dust for most of their ballistic capabilities, with bows and black-powder weapons still seeing surprisingly common usage amongst Huntsmen and Huntresses. While the propellant capabilities of all Dust variants are lackluster, the actual elemental effects of certain types of Dust provide unique tactical opportunities previously unachievable with our technology.

For example, modern cryogenic munitions are made largely irrelevant by Ice Dust, which can deliver similar effects with a miniscule fraction of the cost, and a substantially improved effect. Modernizing our own cryogenic munitions would be as simple as replacing the warheads in our bombs, as the Dominion currently carries no other forms of cryogenic weaponry. Although I have not tested my theory, I believe that we may be able to combine a mixture of Plant and Ice Dust to create formations of Pykrete rather than traditional Ice crystals, which would prove considerably more durable.

Other Dust types such as Gravity and Rock, would likely be best employed in grenades. Thankfully, these already exist, and are in service with the military forces of Remnant, particularly those of Vacuo. Rather than develop our own grenade variants, I would advise purchasing whatever models we should need.

**Proposal Two: Active Defense Systems**

Captain Pool of the Third Armor Company had the inventive idea of manufacturing a set of obsolete Active Defense Systems (ADS) for the purpose of protecting our armored forces from enemy Specialists. Our first conflict with the SDC proved that even a seemingly underequipped Specialist is a serious threat to our vehicles. In particular, our Cobra and Wolverine units are already susceptible to being targeted by concentrated fire, and would certainly benefit from the extra defenses.

He suggested we make a new model based on schematics for the old XM102 "Ancile" model, which we have within the Dominion's databanks. In regards to ammunition, he also recommended adapting a sort of "canister shot" based off of those meant to be fired from our tanks. The end result would be something akin to an autonomous large-caliber shotgun that we could use to outfit our armored vehicles with additional defenses against our new, more agile opponents. Grimm would also likely be highly-susceptible to such weapons.

**Proposal Three: Stopgap Missiles**

Suggested by Lieutenant Gage as a stopgap measure to keep our missile stocks filled. He has proposed the license production of a heavily-modified and cut down variant of the Archer Missile, designed with the lackluster Industrial capabilities of Remnant in mind. It would be dramatically shortened, carry a lighter warhead, and likely use a low-heat fuel source. Although this missile would be a downgrade in every regard compared to the Archer or even Trebuchet Missiles, they would serve to replace our depleting supply of missiles, as well as help modernize Atlas's Airfleet.

Lieutenant Thomas has suggested the designation X1 "Obrez", named after a cut-down and largely inadequate firearm from the early twentieth century.

**Proposal Four: Standardized Huntsmen Equipment**

When Specialist Schnee was made aware of my efforts to compile this list, she offered a proposal of her own. She noted the extensive equipment carried by an individual soldier in the UNSC, and noted that many Huntsmen and Huntresses that she had served with would likely benefit greatly from a similar sort of equipment. These items include a standard rucksack and attachment system, a mess kit, flameless heaters, entrenchment tools, flashlights, ponchos, bedrolls, night vision, and astonishingly, a standardized first aid kit.

Needless to say, the current state of the Average Huntsman's equipment is absolutely unacceptable. Although we lack the capability to supply all of the Huntsmen and Huntresses of Remnant with such equipment, especially without funding, we do have comprehensive blueprints and guidelines that could be contracted out to manufacturers to alleviate this oversight in logistics. A brief discussion with Headmaster Ozpin and Headmaster Theodore confirmed that this has apparently been a long-standing goal of theirs for some time, although they have historically struggled with execution.

**Proposal 5: Neural Interfaces**

The next suggestion was proposed by Jorge-052 in regards to improving operational security. He proposed a simplified version of the standard UNSC neural lace that could be operated by our allies, although currently, this seems exceptionally improbable with our current Neurological equipment. Nevertheless, if you believe that this issue should be a priority, we would be more than willing to see what options are available.

**Proposal Six: Upgraded Jetpacks**

During our visit to Beacon Academy, I discussed a great many military innovations with a young Huntress known as Ruby Rose. Although I could write at length about what conclusions we came to, the most interesting suggestion that she proposed was an upgrade to our jetpacks. To my surprise, Remnant apparently currently lacks such a piece of equipment, with limited exceptions.

Miss Rose proposed the inclusion of Gravity Dust into the supporting structure of the Series Eight Single Operator Lift Apparatus. The result, if utilized correctly, would be a radically improved thrust-to-weight ratio, and improve the in-atmosphere performance of the unit considerably. As the Series Eight model is the most modern thruster module we have, I suggest it's usage for there tests above any others.

**Proposal Seven: S.T.A.G Plating**

Finally, Lieutenant Chen proposed a potential long-term modernization to armor plating, that being what she calls S.T.A.G Plating (Suspended Through Artificial Gravity). Essentially, the design would use energized Gravity Dust to reinforce standard armor plating in times that it would be needed most. Due to the large, complex designs that such a system would demand, this system is likely only to ever see service on armored vehicles and warships.

**Addendum:**

There is one final disturbing observation that I have made, and it involves the use of Gravity Dust in the development of what would certainly be considered a weapon of mass destruction. Theoretically, if a considerable amount of Gravity Dust were to be activated in conjunction with a maximum-strength gravity plate, likely multiple, the resulting force would create a force not unlike those generated by a slipspace drive's particle accelerators. Only, in this case, this considerable force would be applied onto a single point of interest, rather than the multiple that are used to generate a slipspace rift.

The result of such a reaction would be the momentary development of ultra-dense matter, which would, especially if guided correctly, be sufficient to generate a considerably-sized black hole. The resulting devastation of such a weapon is beyond my calculations, but needless to say, I could not recommend the development of such a device for any reason. The concept of such a weapon alone is enough to inspire great amounts of worry in myself for Remnant's potential distant future, and I can only imagine what other disastrous misuses of science one could develop with the broad scientific opportunities that Remnant possesses.

Although I recognize how enemies like the Covenant can make such a weapon seem tempting, I would remind you that such a weapon is only made possible due to Dust, which exclusively functions on Remnant. I can scarcely imagine a strategic situation in which destroying Remnant is an acceptable and/or viable option, but if it is, I imagine that we would have far bigger problems by that point anyway.

If the day should come when this weapon is our only chance for victory, I fearHumanity would lose far more than a home. I hope I don't live to see it.

**Message end**

**Author's Note: The world of RWBY and it's only fantasy-like tech has so much potential when combined with the distinctly sci-fi technology of Halo. To say I've been looking forward to coming up with some of these ideas has been quite the understatement.**


	13. "Philosophy 3, The Philosofing"

**By Sardonic Effigy**

Ben's grip tightened on the pistol he kept hidden in his sleeves, wondering if they had made a mistake, it would not be the first time if they did.

He shook his head, willing himself to focus on their righteous task. The scroll form the temple had told them where to go, but it had been no easy task to gain access. The wizard guarded his secrets with envy, preventing the world from accessing the key to purfection.

And so it was, that their hand had been forced.

The grimlands were an inhospitable place, devoid of both life and light. The land, shrouded in shadow and darkness, felt suffocating. Had it not been for the fire that burned within their hearts, Ben feared they would have fallen long ago.

As it was, they struggled on, until their eyes fell onto the tower and the form that stood in its doorway.

A robed form met them at the base of the stairs, gesturing up to his mistress. "Salem, Queen of the Grimm, first of her name, last of the lost race, The Immortal, and rightful heir to the kingdoms of old."

Ben stepped forward, prepared to speak only to be halted as the man went on.

"Queen of the Andals and the Rhoynar, and the First Men. Lady of the Seven Kingdoms and protector of the realm."

Ben waited for the man to continue, the silence dragged on and Ben spoke. "Your grace, we-"

"The warrior of neither light nor darkness! The daughter of shadow and the Queen who was promised!" The hooded figure bowed slightly, words finally coming to an end.

"Your grace, we are bu-"

"Queen of the Iro-" there was a loud bang, followed by silence as the minion fell to the ground with a rather large hole in his chest. Ben brought his weapon back under his robes.

 _Even I couldn't speak that much without breathing. What the hell was his Semblance, run on sentences?_ Ben wondered, but ultimately, it was of little importance.

"Your grace, we are but humble men." Salem looked to Set at that, one eyebrow raised in question. Ben ignored it and continued on. "We seek only that which all men do."

"Gold?" Her voice echoed through Ben's soul, the words themselves feeling like darkness incarnate.

"We want not for wealth."

"Power?" Salem descended the steps slowly.

"We wish not to control."

"Women then?" The Queen smirked, her mind clearly made as she stepped forth.

"We are not tempted by the flesh!" Set's voice seemed to surprise the Queen of the Grimm, her face twisted in utter shock. "We seek Purfection!"

Salem froze, her body moving in a noticeably defensive manner.

"Did the Wizard send you here to destroy the last vestige of hope?" Her words were mixed not with anger, but fear for what she protected was sacred indeed and Ben understood why she feared its destruction.

"We are no friend of the wizard, he who sealed away the most holy of people." Ben and Set spoke in unison. "We seek only to serve Purfection, and to destroy that which has wronged it!"

"Very well," The Queen hesitated before turning, exposing her back to them as a symbol of trust. "Come with me."

Ben and Set shared a look with each other, sparing an unspoken message before they followed behind her. The inside of the tower was as devoid as the outside, little to nothing in the way of modern amenity. It was like a crypt that contained the most powerful secrets of the world, rather than the corpses of mere men.

A Beowulf stood by the door, perched on its hind legs. "Can I take your robe, sire?"

"They won't be staying long, Reginald." The Queen ushered the Beowulf away. "I will give you what it is you seek, but I must warn you, it's power is beyond what most people would consider… natural."

"Any gift you grant us shall be used to usher the return of Purfection… nothing more, this we swear." Ben bowed slightly, Set mimicking his actions.

The Queen took them deep into the tower, eventually descending down below where the ground should have been. The spiral staircase seemed to go on forever, and yet he never felt tired.

For what waited at the bottom gave them strength.

Deep underground, was a sealed Vault.

"This is the original design that the Wizard has used to seal away the relics." She gestured to the unnatural doorway. "He has locked away four of the relics where only his Maidens can access them… but there is a fifth relic." A pulse of light left her hand and Ben held his breath. A moment later, the door faded away revealing an empty chamber with a simple pedestal in the middle.

The item that sat on the pedestal drove all those present to their knees, even the Queen of the Grimm knelt before it.

"The last and only true gift from the _God of Light_." Her voice seethed with hatred in the name, but Ben knew she held no hatred for the relic before them. "I have waited long for the Warriors of Purfection to find their way here, it is yours to take."

Ben turned to his brother, offering to allow Set to do the honors, but he bowed and stepped back. Ben loved him for it.

Cautiously, Ben stepped forward towards the pedestal. He gently grabbed the item there and stepped back.

Curie's voice cried out over the silence. "Collar added to your inventory!"

A Sacred Gear had been found.

"Now go," Salem stood. "And do what must be done."

Ben offered the Sacred Gear to Set who hid it in his Robe for protection. They spoke in unison.

"It shall be done, your grace."

* * *

" **BROTHER KPMH, A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEACON!"**

" **Don't touch me you cretin, return to the Hells from whence you came!"**

" **THE QUEEN HAS SHOWN US DA WAE!"**

***Racks slide of M90* "The power of Christ compels you, and a gun!"**


	14. “Friendly Reminder”

**By Kpmh2001**

**You have “1” new message(s)**

**Accessing...**

  
  


**Subject: Friendly reminder (Mandatory Reading)**

**From: Lieutenant Commander John Bradford**

**To: All**

This is a notice to all UNSC Personnel in the Remnant System.

Recent events have been tough on all of us, and I want it to be known that I sympathize with everyone’s desire to return home and resume our normal duties. I understand that many of you have families that you are concerned for, and I am terribly sorry for both you and your loved ones.

But for the time being, all that we have is ourselves, our vessel and each other. To that end, I would ask that you would all keep the emotional state and thoughts of your fellow shipmates and Marines in mind as you perform your duties, it can only help to show a little empathy.

Even in our unfortunate and constantly changing circumstances, it is absolutely critical that we continue to keep strict disciplinary standards. The UNSC has always held a great degree of pride in its reputation as a professional and well-disciplined organization, and our situation does not give us the justification to abandon those standards. I wholeheartedly believe that you are some of the best men and women to ever don a uniform, and I know you have it within you to show it.

However, we recognize that guidelines and protocols are in need of an update, as they are not compatible with our current situation. To that end, this is the first of a series of messages intended to make everyone aware of these changes. Those of you with concerns or questions are encouraged to request Mast, or speak to your direct Superior Officer whenever the opportunity arises.

The following disciplinary protocols and regulations have been established or modified for the foreseeable future:

  1. No personnel are permitted to use the CCTS as a delivery method for malicious scripting



1b. This applies regardless of any illegal activities the locals are doing. Any personnel who discover said activity are encouraged to send a report to the local law enforcement on Remnant, this is their job, not yours.

1c. Cyber-Warfare operations are already underway against the SDC, launching Denial of Service attacks against their systems, while certainly creative, is not actually helpful. (We appreciate the spirit, but you’re slowing down our own viruses as well as their systems)

  1. No personnel are permitted to upload any form of artistic content without authorization from at least two Senior NCOs (Remnant is a very culturally sensitive planet, this restriction is likely to be relaxed in the near future as we learn more about Remnant’s unique relationship with artistry).



2b. Pornography counts as artistic content, show some restraint people.

2c. To address the concerns of an anonymous individual, we are not restricting the upload of artistic/pornographic content because “we plan on selling it”.

2d. This is the last time I will address this, and I will make it very clear. No personnel (specifically you, Wendigo Squad) are permitted to produce their own pornographic content to sell to the people of Remnant. Fraternization Regulations are still in effect people, there are healthier ways of dealing with the stresses of our jobs.

  1. No Personnel are to challenge any Spartan to a sparring match, failure to comply will be its own punishment.



3b. Challenging Specialist Schnee is also off-limits, she would beat you.

3c. This applies to all personnel, Sergeant Benjamin, even if you think you could beat her (especially if you think you could beat her).

3d. Specialist Schnee is not to encourage this line of behavior.

  1. All Covenant equipment and technology is not to be tampered with. Any usage of Covenant technology is to be dictated by no less than three commisioned officers (This equipment is currently irreplaceable and must be preserved at every opportunity).



4b. On a related note, there are currently two plasma grenades and a spike grenade missing from our listed arsenal. If any personnel locate these objects, please return them to the Starboard Armory.

  1. Unless assigned to wardening duty, or ordered otherwise, no personnel are to interact with any of the prisoners (Especially the Elite).



5b. This includes any human prisoners too.

5c. All footage of the “rap battle” between Centaur Squad and the SDC operative known as “Adrian” is to be handed in immediately, no matter how “hot their bars were”.

5d. At the universal request of the crew, Ensign Williams was assigned as a judge to see who won the rap battle due to his relevant experience in the aforementioned field. His assessment is that the competition resulted in a draw (we’re allowed to have fun too you know, but no rematches are permitted).

  1. Sergeant Benjamin is acting under Lieutenant Oswald’s orders to assist with the Elite’s interrogation. He is not, as some of you have preposterously suggested, taking Energy Sword lessons. (Spartans are already fully training in the usage of Covenant equipment)



6b. Personnel are to stop asking the Spartans for Energy Sword Lessons, you aren’t even authorized to operate them.

6c. Using 3D-printers to create replica energy swords, while somewhat childish, is currently permitted. Don’t knock each other out, please.

6d. Following Corporal Chu’s attempts to peddle several replica energy swords as novelty knick-knacks in Menagerie, we would like to remind everyone that unapproved commercial transactions with civilians are still prohibited. See traditional regulations for further information.

  1. Any personnel stationed in Menagerie are to stop asking the locals about unique swear words and racial slurs.



7b. You are not allowed to ask for a "pass" to the aforementioned racial slurs.

7c. Personnel are not to refer to each other as the aforementioned racial slurs, regardless of whether you received a “pass” or not.

7d. Although I recognize the historical irony, no, humans are not "inbred".

7e. All personnel who have questions about the reproductive alterations of Faunus are encouraged to use publicly available search engines to ask their questions. We are trying to run a capable warship, not figure out if they lay eggs.

7f. No, There is no conspiracy amongst the Command Staff to cover up whether or not the Faunus are capable of laying eggs. 

7g. The omelets stocked in the Mess Hall are made out of chicken eggs, not Faunus Eggs (which do not exist. We haven’t even had a chance to restock yet, where do you all get these ideas?).

  1. Personnel are to stop asking the CCTS “dumb” A.I philosophical questions and scientific paradoxes, you have caused considerable amounts of lag, please stop.



8b. This has been extended to all impossible questions.

8c. Questions in an instruction based context are still questions. Example: “Tell me how to cook the perfect amount of spaghetti?”

  1. Although we recognize the disproportionately advanced state of Remnant’s robotics development, we currently have no reason to believe they are “building the perfect waifu” as Corporal Bronmore so inelegantly put it.



9b. I have recently received a message from the head of Atlesian robotics requesting that we stop emailing him the schematics of “Battle Droids”. Whoever is responsible for this, please stop.

9c. Following a lengthy conversation with the head of Atlesian Robotics Development, Doctor Polendina, I have implemented restrictions that only permit commissioned officers to send him emails. Although he was quite amused by some of the “concepts” that you have sent him, all non-essential communication with the Atlesian Robotics Division is now prohibited (be grateful the man was so forgiving).

9d. Whoever left the toy Battle Droid in my personal quarters, I will not be returning it, consider this your punishment.

  1. Yes, Specialist Schnee can summon ghostly apparitions of foes she has killed, no, this does not make her a necromancer.



10b. Specialist Schnee is not to be referred to as “Specialist Smartass” or any other dramatically inappropriate nickname. She is a guest aboard our ship, and you will treat her with the respect you would give to any other ally. Her intel has saved some of your lives already, whether you realize it or not.

10c. No, she is not on UNSC payroll, she is a soldier of the Atlesian Military. As such, she is not a Mercenary, she is a soldier of an allied power.

10d. Specialist Schnee is still learning about our customs and culture, exploiting this for the sake of humor is highly discouraged, as she has made it clear that she will return the favor.

10e. Following the unfortunate confrontation between Private Tucker and Specialist Schnee, any UNSC Personnel who see fit to ask her on a date will now be obligated to spar with her until you learn your lesson.

  1. We can confirm that all future paychecks will be delivered in Lien for the time being, if only because this planet does not accept the UEG Credit, making their current value negligible.



11b. This does not give you free reign to gamble with your existing Credits, those are UEG legal tender, and as such, are not allowed to be used in wagers.

11c. No, this does not mean you are allowed to gamble with Lien.

11d. Yes, you are still eligible for back pay in Credits if and when we find a way home.

  1. Recovered examples of Remnant’s weaponry are live weapons, and should be treated as such. Using Atlas’s laser rifles to engrave your names into your armor is dramatically unprofessional.



12b. This now extends to engraving anything into anything else.

12c. Although weak by modern standards, Atlas’s laser weapons are still dangerous firearms. Using them to cook bacon (or for any other non-conventional purpose) is no longer permitted.

12d. Converting Atlesian weaponry into other, more useful equipment, is currently being considered. Unauthorized conversions are still not permitted (this includes Corporal Henry’s grenade launcher, despite how impressive it is).

  1. Specialist Schnee is no longer permitted to encourage the usage of royal honorifics in her presence.



13a. Although I’m impressed you managed to create/find all of the instruments, Specialist Schnee does not require a musical number dedicated to her arrival.

13b. No, this does not mean “The Dominion’s Odd Orchestra” is being disbanded. Your musical talents are impressive and you are encouraged to continue your practices and performances.

  1. Personnel stationed at the Menagerie Communications Relay “Sandbag Island” are no longer permitted to participate in competitive sports with the local civilians.



14b. This includes playing frisbee, no matter how much you (or the locals) enjoy it.

14c. To address the dozens of concerns that we have received, yes, you are free to interact with the citizens of Menagerie during shore leave. Curie has been kind enough to put together a list of differences in local customs to our own as to avoid any awkward or difficult situations, the related file is attached to this document.

  1. All personnel assigned to work under Lieutenant Oswald are not permitted to deviate from their assigned instructions until they are completed.



15b. Personnel assigned to “courier” missions on Remnant also apply to this rule. The cargo you are carrying is precious and critical to our ongoing efforts to keep Remnant safe and it’s people on our side.

  1. All personnel beta-testing the VR simulators with the new Grimm scenarios are discouraged from emulating the Spartans. (They can chokeslam a Beowulf, you cannot, regardless of whether or not it is digital.)



16b. Remnant native operatives (such as Specialist Schnee and Margaret) are not permitted to operate the VR simulators above the lowest difficulty settings.

16c. This is not because they are “playing on easy mode” as Ensign Williams somewhat insultingly proposed, but rather a result of their Semblances. Mags broke the physics engine of the last naval simulation that she ran and nearly burned out the simulators. The lowest difficulty setting is the least strenuous on the software.

16d. Specialist Schnee is no longer permitted to operate temporal glyphs in any simulation due to software limitations.

16e. Following a large number of concerned messages, Specialist Schnee has agreed not to use temporal “time” glyphs on the Dominion in any situation.

  1. Personnel are no longer permitted to use unauthorized cyber-infiltration software to bypass CCTS security systems.



17b. Even if you’re using it to eliminate student loan debts.

17c. Rule one is still in effect people, and it is not going away!

  1. Manipulating the gravity systems whenever a Remnant-native operative is present is no longer permitted due to their lack of training.



18b. All footage of Specialist Schnee becoming stuck in the middle of the gym during a gravity outage is to be handed over immediately.

  1. The Huntsmen Academies have official names, and in an act of respect for our new allies, we will use their official chosen designations. We will not refer to them as:



-Ugandan Child Soldier Camps (All types of Child Soldier Camps are off-limits, it’s not as funny as you think it is)

-Bootier Boot Camp

-Texan College

-Hogwarts (Or anything else from Harry Potter)

-Demented Disney

-Hexside Witching Academy (All magical schools are now off the table, no matter what you’re referencing)

-Bootleg West Point

-Bootleg Corbulo

-Bootleg Anything

-Imminent Lawsuit Academy

-The Spartan IV Program (y'all think you’re really funny, don’t you?)

-Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters

-Umbrella Academy

  1. Coffee and other agricultural supplies donated by Menagerie and its citizens are still being rationed until we have a sizable supply aboard. We’re well aware our existing supplies are less than palatable, but you will have to make due for now.



20b. No, this does not mean you can take other supplies and attempt to make your own versions of missing resources. 

20c. I was trying to avoid saying it directly, but “Bathtub Moonshine” is in fact covered by this rule. 

20d. In light of recent complaints, Commander Miller has seen fit to double everyone's ration of coffee for the next few days. Supply chains will be adjusted to facilitate this.

  1. Service Members on leave are no longer permitted to enter into any kind of contest or competition. This includes the following: Talent shows, Drinking contests, Spars, Shooting contests, and any combination of the four.



21b. We all saw the recordings of Corporal Lee’s performance and are very proud of her singing voice, however, we also saw the “spar” between Sergeant White and that Huntsmen. If anybody would like the details feel free to speak with him in Sickbay about it.

21c. No the fight was not “rigged”, Sergeant White challenged a veteran Huntsmen with years of combat training.

21d. The Huntsman was not on “enhancement” drugs, Aura is a natural force that everyone has and with training can use it to do incredible things. If you read the briefings we hand out, you would know that.

  1. The White Fang is a former protest movement turn terror cell, they are not, and shall not be referred to as:



-Furries

-Scalies

-Monsters

-Canadians

-Evil catgirls

-Grimm

-The Schnee Dust Company

-Taft’s Pony Brigade (Thomas, nobody else gets your history references, please stop)

-The United Rebel Front

-Communists/Fascists/Other Dead Ideologies (we are still learning more about them, this may be removed at a later date)

-The Serpent’s Hand

-Advent

-Citizens of Detroit

-Taco Bell Employees

-Ohioans

-Japanese Celebrities

-Jedi/Sith

-Zulu Company from the mirror universe (just because I laughed doesn’t mean it’s not against the rules people)

-The Navy

-The Navy, but gayer

-The Covenant (seriously?)

  1. Remnant-native personnel are no longer permitted to operate any appliances in the galley (kitchen). Mags came very near to giving herself third-degree burns and started a small fire.



23a. This includes the coffee maker, Specialist Schnee, please ask a Cook to handle it for you in the future.

  1. Callsigns for personnel stationed aboard the Dominion are selected and approved based on their ability to be clearly understood over a radio, their brevity, and although it is not a requirement, referencing Fantasy is some manner (Ex. Voodoo, Excalibur, Chakra). To that end, the following callsigns have been and will continue to be rejected any time that they are submitted for approval.



-Budget Helljumpers.

-Legendary Jarhead, Destroyer of Crayons and Bane of Washing Machines.

-Chad Thundercock, Infantryman Extraordinaire.

-Colonial Military Authority Two, Electric Boogaloo.

-Literally anything related to any kind of music.

-Grimm Busters (yes, you may keep the decals you printed, that logo is impressive).

-Inferno Squad (no, just no).

-Huntsmen Two, The Sequel.

-Imperial Guardsmen.

-Cheeki Breeki

-Any other kind of Marines (On a related note, please keep all Warhammer Games confined to the Barracks. The Cooks are sick of digging your miniatures out of the deep fryer)

  1. Lieutenant Oswald is no longer permitted to tell Atlesian Journalists that being punched in the face by a UNSC Officer is an established tradition for the Press.



25a. Being kicked in the Scrotum is also not an Earthly tradition Lieutenant, please stop beating up journalists, regardless of how pushy and arrogant they are.

  
  


More will follow as needed, please, exercise some professionalism people.


	15. “They’re Just Missing in Action”

**By Kpmh2001**

**UNSC Dominion, Mess Hall**

The Mess Hall was one of the two places on a Charon Class Light Frigate that had windows, the other being the Bridge. Unlike the Bridge’s viewports however, the Mess Hall windows were not obstructed by any kind of armor plating or radioactive shielding that was embedded into the transparent polymers. So in practicality, if you wanted a clean, natural view outside of the ship, you really only had one option.

Out of the Mess Hall window, Richard could see Remnant’s cloud layer, although he couldn’t tell how high the ship was at a glance. He’d instructed Ensign Williams to keep them at a high altitude, and left it to the helmsman to figure it out from there. Around him, the Mess was very quiet, none of the Dominion’s shifts were eating at the moment, so there were only a handful of people milling about. 

Technically, he was supposed to be taking a break, but he couldn’t stop thinking about what he had said to Captain Clark in Sickbay. “ _I know we’ll find a way back, but I don’t know if we’ll still be around by the time that happens.”_

Richard hadn’t really realized the true meaning of the words until he’d spoken them aloud, which was ironic, given that he had been talking to a man who was probably too high on painkillers to process exactly what Richard was saying, so in practicality, he had just been talking to himself.

_Haven’t done that since New Amsterdam…_ Richard realized. In spite of the painful memories, he shook his head clear, and banished the thought from his mind.

He had been telling the truth, even if Clark probably hadn’t entirely heard him. A week ago, Curie had placed her rough guess as to how long it would take to begin manufacturing modern slipspace drives, and she’d placed the delay at anywhere from eighty to a hundred and forty years. Given that the average lifespan of deployed UNSC servicemen was frequently measured in months, Richard was fairly certain he and the vast majority of his crew would never see UNSC space again.

Nobody back home would’ve had any way of knowing where the Dominion was, or even that it was still operational, with its crew largely alive and well. The last thing the rest of the UNSC would’ve been able to see from the Dominion was the distress signal that it had broadcast for nineteen seconds before it had entered the Shunspace portal. HIGHCOM would write it off as a Slipspace Drive malfunction, issue a reminder to perform routine maintenance to all surviving UNSC vessels, and stamp him and his entire crew as Missing In Action.

Prior to the war with the Covenant breaking out, Missing In Action had actually meant something, that there was a very real possibility of the people involved being alive. But ever since the war had really started taking a turn for the worst, especially after Admiral Cole died, people tended to just assume that anyone missing was dead. Sure, sometimes those who were lost would find their way home, but those cases were little more than anomalies anymore. Odds were, if you were marked as Missing In Action, the UNSC hadn’t had time to retrieve your corpse before they were forced to run.

Richard knew all too well what happened next. A UEG representative would be sent to the home of the Missing person’s next of kin, tell them everything that wasn’t classified about the situation, and more often than not, hand them a folded flag. Traditionally, UNSC Officers and NCOs were responsible for the duty of notifying the missing person’s next of kin of their disappearance, but with the casualties of the war climbing well into the tens of billions, that responsibility fell upon the shoulders of the temporarily-deposed civilian government, as to free up more servicepersons for active duty.

That was Richard now, he was Missing In Action, and so was everyone else who had been dragged along with him aboard the Dominion.

Contrary to what he had expected, his first realization had been positive. Since Ben was now Missing In Action, some other Spartan-III from Gamma Company would probably be shifted to a Category-II and sent off to help the Marine Corps, saving them from whatever suicide mission Colonel Ackerson would’ve otherwise sent them on.

_That’s good, they’ll do better with a suit of Mjolnir and a frontline position._ Richard thought.

“Mind if I join you?”

  
Richard turned to see Lieutenant Oswald behind him, looking quite terrible, all things considered. There were bags under his eyes, and a distant look in his eyes.

“Not at all.” Richard replied. “I was just… thinking about what everyone back home must think.”

Thomas shook his head as he walked up next to Richard. “Slipspace drive malfunctions don’t leave survivors, at least, most of the time.”

Richard nodded. “Same thing I was thinking.”

There was an awkward moment of silence as the two of them stared out at Remnant, before Thomas spoke once more.

  
“Do you have any family?”

  
“I think so.” Richard said. Truth be told, his line of work meant that he hadn’t checked in with his Sister or her son in a good few years. “My sister Rhonda, and her son, Jared. I think he was going to join the Marines… he always did want to be a Spartan when he grew up.”

Thomas looked at him with a faint look of surprise. “Did he know about…”

“No.” Richard immediately answered. “All they knew is that I served in the Navy… I suppose it’s going to stay that way.”

“I see.” Thomas said, before letting out a grim chuckle. “You know, I told my mother that I was going to get a degree in Marketing… She’ll be a little surprised when they hand her all my records…”

“I’m sorry.” Richard simply stated. He didn’t need to elaborate any further, Thomas already knew what he was going to say. “On the bright side, our pensions will keep them fed.”

“I suppose so…” Thomas softly said, but Richard got the feeling that he wasn’t entirely listening.

_Probably best to leave him be for a bit._ Richard thought. He knew all too well that sometimes it was best to just be left alone. “I should probably get back to work, I’ll leave you with the view.”

“Much obliged, Commander Miller.” Thomas replied.

**Author’s Notes: I recognize that it’s not the most substantial levity-based of Omakes, but I just had an inkling to write this. I was also reminded of a piece of long-forgotten Men From Onyx lore (yes, sometimes I forget my own lore, this is why I have a document written out with everything) that I’ve alluded to in this omake. For anyone hunting for the hint, here’s my hint; play Spartan Ops in Halo 4. Good hunting.**


	16. "The Beach Episode"

**By Kpmh2001**

**Menagerie**

**Kuo Kuana, Waikiki Beach**

For most Marines, R&R was a chance to relax, unwind, and rest a little from the stresses of work in the UNSC. And indeed, Onyx Team was no different. Quite how Remnant was in a position that they could afford to take a day off was, at least for the moment, not their concern.

In the distant waters off of Waikiki Beach, Nathan and Fairfire were preparing to catch an incoming wave with their surfboards. They were so far away that even with Ben’s enhanced vision, he could not make any finer details out with the naked eye. Thankfully, he’d brought along a set of rangefinders with him.

It was a bit unnerving not having access to the utilities and tools that his Mjolnir offered, but Curie had convinced him to leave the armor behind. She’d been quite persistent actually, telling him that he needed the sun to touch his skin every once and awhile. So instead of his armor, he’d brought some UNSC issue swim trunks and a plain white t-shirt, not to mention sunscreen. 

He’d made sure that the whole squad was wearing some form of sun protection, the last thing any of them needed was to be laid up in Sickbay for some terrible skin condition that would take months to cure. Even if they had R&R today, they could be needed at any time, and Ben was hoping that nobody would manage to get themselves sick or hurt when they were supposed to be relaxing.

Not wearing his armor highlighted the fact that he had gotten perhaps a bit too used to using the optics in his helmet, so doing things the old fashioned way for a change certainly didn’t hurt. Mendez and Kurt had always hammered into the Spartan Trainees that whenever technology broke, it was often the simplest things that remained functional.

There were also a few other oddities to being out of his familiar outfit. The hot sand between his toes was a stark contrast to the sleek undersuit of his Mjolnir, and he hadn’t actually been under the hot sun of a beach before without his armor, so it was a new, interesting experience. The golden sands were warm and soft, quite the opposite of what he had expected.

“See anything interesting?” Curie asked from beside him.

Ben looked down at the cooler that he had put her datachip on and noticed that she swapped out her own traditional outfit for a digital two-piece swimsuit. “I don’t think that those two have figured out that the weather works a little differently around here, if that’s what you're asking.”

Curie softly chuckled. “I wonder when they’ll put it together. Who knows? They might find a few waves yet...”

Ben must have been staring blankly, because Curie looked up at him with an amused expression on her face. “What do you think? I figured I would try something a bit more… appropriate on for the occasion.”

For a moment, Ben stood there a bit dumbfounded, wondering exactly how he was supposed to respond to that. So rather than overthink it, he said the first thing that came to mind. “You look… pretty.”

He returned his attention back to his rangefinders, completely oblivious to how Curie’s normal blue hue was momentarily flushed away by a bright pink wave of light.

**Meanwhile, in deeper waters.**

To be honest, Fairfire was deeply disappointed in what kind of waves Menagerie had to offer. The weather was utterly gorgeous, with an almost totally-clear big blue sky, and a nice breeze to keep things from feeling too hot. It might not have been Emerald Cove, but the weather certainly seemed to match what she remembered.

_ Nice weather, big waves, cute girls and hot boys… what’s not to love? _ Fairfire momentarily thought, allowing the nostalgia to take over.

But the waves on Menagerie were a completely different story, they were few and far between, and even the biggest seemed to only clock in at a few feet high. For a planet with a few notches less than 1g of gravity, Remnant was not leaving her a reason to be impressed. She was quick to blame that damn broken moon, it probably wouldn’t be able to conjure the kind of waves she was used to.

Still, there were worse places to be than out on the water, sitting on a surfboard next to one of the most trustworthy people in her life.

“So uh, there aren’t any sharks out here, right?” Nathan somewhat jokingly asked with a nervous chuckle.

Fairfire laughed jovially, because even though she could tell that there was a degree of genuine fear in his voice, she knew that sharks were nothing to be afraid of. “Relax, it ain’t the sharks you gotta worry about, it’s the damn squids.”

Nathan’s nervous expression was priceless. “Squids?”

“Yeah, back on Emerald Cove, my girlfriend got her arm dislocated by one.” Fairfire explained.

Amusingly, all at once, Nathan’s fears seemingly vanished, replaced by bold curiosity. “You have a girlfriend?”

“I had a girlfriend.” Fairfire answered, emphasizing the key word. “She uh, wasn’t as fond of the UNSC as I was. So when I enlisted… well, it was a bit of a shitshow.”

Nathan shook his head. “Sorry to hear that.”

She let out an exasperated sigh. “It was a long time ago, and frankly, she was kind of a bitch.”

“Ah… probably shouldn’t ask for her number then.” Nathan said, promptly earning a splash of water in the face. “Oh come on! If you were dating her, she had to be hot!”

Fairfire chuckled. “Oh trust me, she was. Third-rate personality for sure, but damn, did she have a first-rate ass.”

“You see? I knew it!” Nathan said, gesturing at his apparent victory. “And uh, yeah, I’ve dated girls like that before.”

“I’m not surprised, it seems like there’s a few of them everywhere.” Fairfire replied. “Lucky for me, I don’t have to worry about picking between ass and personality.”

Nathan didn’t seem to know how to respond, so she decided to give him a push in the direction. “That’ll be a yes Sergeant from you, Nathan.”

“Yes Sergeant!” Nathan hastily replied. “Say, did you ever date any-“

Fairfire raised a clenched fist to interrupt him, as she sensed an increase of movement beneath her surfboard. The roar of water behind her confirmed her suspicions.

“Hold on there, looks like we’ve got a big one coming in!” Fairefire merrily announced. “Up and at em’ Nathan, follow my lead!”

**Meanwhile, back on the shore.**

With steady, well-practiced motions, Mags beckoned the water to her command. The salinity, the movements, the pressure, even the minute chemical composition, all played a big part in exactly how she controlled it. But seeing as she was controlling water off of the coast of Menagerie, which she had done thousands of times before, she had little difficulty forming a good-sized wave. 

“I didn’t know you could make waves that big.” Ben commented, his voice betraying how impressed he was.

“It is quite impressive.” Curie added. “In fact, I believe that may be a difficult wave for Monsieur Nathan… he is a beginner, after all.”

“Feh.” Mags said, brushing off her concern. “When I learned to surf, I practiced out near the Colored Spires. I bounced my head off of a good-sized rock more times than I can count, and I turned out okay.”

Curie looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “Are you sure that did not affect your decision making capabilities?”

Mags shook her tail slowly in irritation. If there was one upside to wearing a swimsuit over her traditional uniform, it was that she could move her tail far more easily. “Listen here Pixie, I ain’t-“

“Hold on! Mags, Nathan just fell off of his board.” Ben interjected.

“Aye, I felt it.” She confirmed. She could feel certain things about the water, including when the Helljumper and his surfboard had made an unfortunate tumble. “Don’t worry, he’ll be fine.”

Ben didn’t take the scowl off of his face as he lowered his rangefinders, revealing his malformed face. Mags didn’t know exactly what had happened to him, but if she had to guess, it had probably involved burns in some manner. “I’ll take your word for it…”

“You should. As long as it’s in saltwater, I can tell you whatever it’s doing.” Mags said. “Actually, on that note, check this out.”

She made a squeezing motion with one hand, and watched with satisfaction as Nathan was launched out of the water and into the air. He travelled at least twelve feet into the air, over the wave that Mags had conjured, before coming back down with an impressive splash.

_ Still got it. _ Mags thought, quite satisfied with the flight time that she had gotten out of Nathan.

“Damn.” Ben said with a whistle. “I didn’t know you could concentrate the water like that.”

  
“Never underestimate the power of water pressure.” Mags cheekily replied, before taking a seat in the sand. “It may be a bit strenuous… but it’s beautiful all the same.”

“You certainly have that correct.” Curie noted with a hint of frustration. “I can scarcely think of another word to describe how you did that.”

Mags gave her a sly grin. “You know lass, you’d be a lot happier if you stopped trying to understand everything.”

Curie clearly thought her words over for a moment. “What do you focus on?”

Mags sighed, clearly she wasn’t getting the message. “For the record, my advice applies to people too, they’re probably the hardest thing to understand.”

Curie was visibly disappointed in her answer, but Mags wasn’t done talking. “But if you must know, I just try to focus on what makes me happy.”

Curie seemed a bit dejected. “But understanding things does make me happy…”

“Aye, and I ain’t gonna pretend to understand that.” Mags said. “But don’t let me get in your way of you doing what makes you happy, alright?”

Curie seemed somewhat rejuvenated by her words. “I… I believe I understand.”

“Don’t mention it.” Mags said with a wide grin.

She felt a disturbance in the water, probably either Nathan, Fairfire, or both reaching shore. “Hey Ben, you see those two lovebirds anywhere?”

“If you’re talking about Nathan and Fairfire, then yeah, they’re on their way back.” Ben answered. “You should know, Nathan looks a little uh, unhappy.”

Mags chuckled, she wasn’t surprised, it didn’t take a genius to find out who had been messing with him. “I’d best make myself scarce then. Well, I’ll catch you all in a bit. I heard Fireball was making some Calamari...”

Ben gave her a silent nod in response, and Mags went to see where else she could cause a little trouble.

**About a minute later…**

Ben and Curie patiently waited for Nathan and Fairfire to join them. While the two Helljumpers were making their trek over the sand, Ben took a brief moment to check over the rest of the squad.

Yu had apparently been sunbathing and listening to a song about a watchtower by someone that her old-timey boombox called Jimmy Hendrix. However, she had fallen asleep at some point, and was now snoring somewhat apishly. Ben took the time to cover her up with another beach towel, that way she didn’t get sunburnt. Still, he left her music to play, it wasn’t half-bad.

Meanwhile, Meadows had managed to find himself an unusually large seashell during his search for washed up objects on the beach. Unfortunately for him, Menagerie was apparently the native habitat for some unusually large and aggressive hermit crabs. The thing was the size of a fully grown German Shepard, and naturally, it was not too pleased at Meadows intruding on its home.

After what Ben could only describe as the most disgraceful melee engagement in the history of the ODSTs, Ben had decided to intervene. He’d given the crab a few harsh knocks around the head, scaring it off and ending the “battle” before either it or Meadows could get hurt. Now Meadows was focusing on far less dangerous bits of washed up driftwood.

_ With his luck, one of those is going to be a grenade.  _ Ben thought. He did quite like Meadows, but the poor man had a habit of taking the nastiest blows.

Jorge and Pegamagabow were not to be outdone by Meadow’s discovery however, and had discovered that Menagerie was also home to Gigantic Clams, with the one they found being around the size of an M12 Warthog. Jorge, recalling a recipe devised by one of the Spartans that he had formerly served with, sought to bake the massive mollusc.

Using a combination of a bit of rebar that had washed up on the beach, and Jorge’s raw strength, they had successfully cracked the beast open and gained access to all of the meat inside. Now the two of them were off somewhere else, no doubt cooking what they had retrieved. Ben hadn’t known exactly how Jorge would respond to not being on active duty, but it seemed like the older Spartan was better cut out for it than Ben had anticipated.

“Hey Ben!” Nathan shouted to get his attention. “Where the hell did Mags go? I gotta bone to pick with her.”

“I don’t know, and frankly, that’s not a good idea.” Ben replied. He noticed that Fairfire was still lagging behind somewhat, indicating that Nathan was probably planning to do something regrettable.

“What, you don’t think I can take her?” Nathan asked, confirming Ben’s suspicions.

“With that canteen of saltwater she’s carrying around? No.” Ben bluntly answered. “Look, we already had to chip a Marine out of a block of ice because they tried to ask Specialist Schnee out...“

“Take it from me, he deserved it.” Curie pitched in.

“...I don’t need to know if Mags can use her Semblance to do the same to you, got it?” Ben said, hoping that he could appeal to a bit of common sense within Nathan.

He groaned with frustration, but thankfully, he set down his surfboard and sat down on it regardless. “Fine… Say, you haven’t touched the water yet, have you?”

Ben shook his head. “Not a good idea. My Neural Lace is durable, but I’m not exactly eager to test its resilience to Saltwater.”

“Neither am I.” Curie backed him up.

Nathan nodded in recognition. “Ah, I didn’t think about that…”

“Didn’t think about what?” Fairfire asked as she finally got close enough to properly talk. “By the way, thanks for talking him down, I didn’t want to have to go fish him out of the ocean.”

“Don’t mention it.” Ben replied.

“You guys are jerks…” Nathan jokingly commented.

“It is a friend’s duty to look out for them, even if that means telling them something that they don’t want to hear.” Curie pointed out.

“Yeah well… no, you know what, you’re right.” Nathan replied. “Don’t wanna end the day in an ice cube…”

“That’s the spirit!” Fairfire said, giving him a firm pat on the back. “And look on the bright side, thanks to Mags, you finally got a wave to surf!”

“I do not know if I would call Monsieur Nathan’s actions ‘surfing’.” Curie awkwardly said.

Nathan shrugged. “Hey, it was a hell of a lot better than sitting out there for another twenty minutes. I swear to god something touched my leg while we were out there…”

“It is likely that something did, as Menagerie’s population of Marine Life is extraordinarily large.” Curie stated.

Nathan shook his head with an expression of disgust and fear. “You are not helping.”

“Hey!”

They all turned to see Jorge waving at them from the distance. “The clams are done, come and get em’!”

“Now these I gotta try…” Fairfire said as she grabbed her surfboard and got up, followed by Nathan.

While the two Helljumpers ran off to join the rest of the squad, kicking Yu awake in the process, Ben took a moment to look out at the ocean one last time. 

Curie seemed to notice his hesitation. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m just getting a good look, it might be awhile before we get another day off.” Ben explained.

Curie shot him a friendly smile. “We can always come back later.”

Ben nodded and picked up her chip, before inserting it into his Neural Lace. “I suppose so.”


	17. “Friendly Reminder (Again)”

**By Kpmh2001**

**You have "1" new message(s)**

**Accessing...**

**Subject: Updated Protocols (Continued)**

**From: Lieutenant Commander John Bradford**

**To: All**

This is a continuation of a previous message intended to update all UNSC Personnel and allies as to new or otherwise altered protocols. Those of you who have not read the original are to do so at once, it is mandatory reading for all personnel.

Following additional events and certain regrettable transgressions by UNSC Personnel or their allies, the following protocols are now in effect:

  1. Voodoo Squadron are no longer allowed to play music in their cockpits in the middle of battle. You are flying one of eight starfighters in existence, please have a bit of respect for your spacecraft.



26a. Even if it’s from Top Gun, actually, especially if it’s from Top Gun.

26b. No “American Pie” either.

26c. There are no exceptions to this rule, stop submitting requests.

26d. Pelican Pilots are also not allowed to play music in their cockpits in the midst of combat, yes, even if it’s “Flight of the Valkyries”.

26e. I would like to address the “loophole” to this regulation that Fireball discovered. Just because you play the music from external speakers doesn’t mean that you aren’t violating the regulation. It’s the spirit of the thing.

26f. Following the viral spread of Fireball’s “Music Video” on the CCTS, we are looking into re-evaluating this regulation in certain circumstances.

26g. No Lieutenant Oswald, we do not need to use your ancient record collection, although we appreciate the offer.

26h. Tankers are also not allowed to mount loudspeakers on their Tanks for the sake of playing “Marching through Georgia” or anything involving heavy metal.

  1. Do not start Communist Uprisings.



  1. If you are going to do shots with Atlesian Troopers, do NOT give them grain alcohol.



28a. I don’t care if “they can handle it” you’re still pouring them poison in lieu of a drink, knock it the hell off.

28b. Any Atlesian Troopers stationed aboard the Dominion (or any other UNSC installation) are not authorized to drink grain alcohol of their own accord either. I understand that your Aura prevents any lasting damage, but your health is still our concern.

28c. Stimpacks are meant to be used to extend a soldier’s effective time that they can fight in the field, they are not “alcohol enhancers”.

28d. Following a very large number of concerned messages from Atlesian Officers, I would like to remind everyone that just because Stimpacks are not addictive doesn’t mean that you should be doing them without orders.

28e. Usage of Stimpacks is not mandatory, UNSC personnel are permitted to reject their usage for religious, ethical, or health reasons, and this applies to Atlesian Soldiers issued with them. That being said, if you think that you can fight for forty-eight straight hours without stopping on your own, maybe reconsider your abstinence.

  1. Stop trying to woo Specialist Schnee. If I catch one more lovestruck Jarhead with a Guitar outside of her quarters, I swear to god I’ll [REDACTED]



_Note from Commander Miller: While I recognize that Lieutenant Commander Bradford’s initial comment was rather… gruesome, I will remind you all that Specialist Schnee is not interested in dating any of you. And if you think that doing this is somehow a “prank”, I will give her Carte Blanche to return the favor as she sees fit. Feel free to ask Private Herman how that went… as soon as we figure out how to thaw him out._

  1. Stop bringing megaphones into public relief missions. If your mission is to purify a well or resupply a clinic with modern medicine, you do not need to demonstrate Mongolian throat singing to the locals in the process. Even if they think it’s interesting to listen too.



30a. On a related note, stop using the sterile field generators to clear the fungus out of caves. I don’t care if it makes a “cool sound” when it all explodes, that is military grade engineering equipment, not a toy.

30b. Overclocking it to kill mosquitoes worked ONCE, do not try it again! Doctor Chase says that improperly using those can maim/sterilize you, so for the love of god, knock it off. And before anybody asks, no, they are not rated for use in combat.

  1. Hornet Pilots are to stop taking sponsorship deals for ad space on the side of their aircrafts.



31a. This rule now extends to all pilots.

31b. And Tankers… Why would a cardboard manufacturer want ad space on your Grizzly?

  1. Lieutenant Oswald is no longer allowed to share Earth-based entertainment media during Press Conferences, particularly anything involving slapstick.



32a. Even if Remnant’s people think that it’s really funny.

32b. Thomas, if you can find me a genuinely good reason to introduce Remnant to “Tom and Jerry”, by all means, share it with the public. Otherwise, this rule stands.

32c. Whoever uploaded all of “Wipeout” to the CCTS, I would like to remind you that Remnant is full of people that are practically begging for an excuse to get themselves hurt, please don’t encourage them.

32d. I would like to remind all staff that there is no point to sharing practically any video game with Remnant’s people via the CCTS, as almost none of them have the necessary computers to run them.

32e. This does not mean that Zulu Company’s bi-weekly gaming tournament is canceled, and yes, it was funny watching Mags beat all of you at pretty much every racing game you could throw at her. I’ll be participating next time for certain, let’s see how she fares at Risk.

  1. Unauthorized use of the fabricators remains prohibited. They are the only examples of modern production machinery currently in existence, we need to plan their usage carefully for the foreseeable future.



33a. As much as I was hoping to avoid addressing this, yes, I am talking about the “confetti incident”.

33b. 3-D printing copies of Huntsmen Weapons is prohibited.

33c. ARM ammunition is available upon request, you do not need to make your own homemade gravity ammunition (that’s just a bad idea people).

33d. Dust is inherently incompatible with the fabricators, so don’t even think about it.

33e. For the last goddamn time, no, the fabricators cannot produce any sort of biological entity. (Just to clarify for any Remnant-native personnel, cloning is very real, and it is full of reasons why doing it frivolously is a bad idea)

  1. PFC. Freeman and Corporal Magnusson are no longer allowed to operate the Mess Hall microwave following some very poorly-made decisions on both of their parts. 



  1. Any service-people who practice ANY faith are highly advised to avoid discussing their beliefs with Remnant’s inhabitants. Remember, these people don’t know about Earth’s ancient history, so a lot of things probably won’t make sense to them.



35a. Following extensive research by Chaplain Jensen, apparently regulation thirty-five is in error. Somehow, it appears that most major Earth-based religions already have a presence of some form on Remnant… make of that what you will.

35b. No Crusades or Jihads, behave.

35c. No using advanced technologies to create “miracles”. Remember, Remnant is very culturally sensitive, and as outsiders we should respect that!

  1. Gunnery crews are no longer allowed to demonstrate the function of a coilgun using live fire drills, regardless of ammunition used. 



36a. Your weapons are not built to launch silverware, so don’t use it as ammo.

36b. Following the involuntary usage of Corporal Paige’s trumpet as ammunition, all live fire drill requests must be run through myself as well Lieutenant Gage.

  1. All UNSC installations have appropriate designations that all UNSC personnel should be using. They are not to be referred to as:



-Camp Half Blood

-Uncle Sam’s Bait and Tackle  
-The Shire/ Bag End

-Mordor 

-The Alamo (The underpants with the Texan flag printed on them have been removed from the flagpole)

-Detroit

-Reach’s Trash Bin

-The Old Mormon Fort

-Verdun

-Fort Sumter (Please try to remember that not all UNSC Personnel are fully educated about the First American Civil War, let alone Remnant-Native Personnel)

-Helms Deep

-Platform Nine and three quarters (hold on, we’re logging an extra rule here)

  1. No Callsigns are allowed to draw from Harry Potter for inspiration. (If you’re going to read 500 year old urban fantasy for inspiration, could you be bothered to pick something that’s actually good?)



Reminder for the uninitiated; it is a tradition aboard the Dominion for all unit callsigns to relate to Fantasy and Mythology, although this is not an official restriction, it is highly encouraged (come on, it's harmless fun! If my wrinkly old ass can laugh at it, so can you.)

38a. Yes, I am exploiting my position of Command to prevent you from effectively celebrating your love of bad fiction, sue me. Also, everything from that damn series is way too hard to say over a radio anyway, so I doubt any of those suggestions would get accepted anyhow.

38b. If you want your callsign to be Gryffindor, just have it be Griffin or some other variation of the word.

38c. Thomas, we will not be having a discussion about the merits of Harry Potter using the priority message system, come talk to me in my office.

38d. Following an extensive debate with Lieutenant Oswald and an executive decision by Commander Miller, Harry Potter-related callsigns are reluctantly permitted, just don’t expect me to be happy about it.

  1. Uploading images of the painting “Saturn Eating his Son” to art forums on the CCTS is no longer permitted.



39a. Private Shen, the Vacuo Art Society has taken a special interest in your “submission”. As your punishment, you will be accepting their invitation to contribute a similar piece of your own creation.

39b. Fine, I’ll admit it. Private Shen’s “Brute Eats his Grunts” is truly revolting, but very impressive given the time constraints and lack of proper paints. The VAS is very happy with your contribution Private, I hope it was worth it.

39c. Numerous other art societies across Remnant have approached us asking to catalogue any further submissions that we may have. Due to our funding issues, we will be accepting these offers on a case by case basis. Any submissions that you wish to make must be run through Curie before they are approved for submission.

39d. You only get to keep the money if you make the pieces, take a page out of Private Shen’s book, get creative!

39c. Yes, we’re keeping the proceeds from the non-original pieces that we sell for the UNSC budget. But on the grounds that we use that money to pay you all and keep you fed and equipped, stop bitching.

  1. UNSC personnel are no longer allowed to log data request forms under the names of their Atlesian Allies.



40a. This cuts both ways Atlesians, bear in mind, Curie can see anything you search for.

40b. Remnant-Native personnel are advised (and encouraged) to do their own research on Earth-Based history. But please, keep in mind, some topics are still fresh in our minds, making it really uncomfortable when you ask about them (The Covenant comes to mind).

  1. UNSC Personnel are no longer permitted to claim that fictional monsters are real to trick Remnant Natives.



41a. This includes everything from the SCP Mythos, come on people, that’s just not nice.

41b. Airman Patrick has had the bigfoot costume confiscated, Naval Personnel will no longer have to worry about amushes.

41c. While I don’t approve of how Sergeant Benjamin responded, I believe that Corporal Harrison should have known better than to “prank” a Spartan while wearing a Grimm outfit. Let this be a warning for anyone else who feels a need to have more broken bones.

42d. I don’t know who is responsible, or where you got the Tarantula, but for the love of god, you should have known better than to try something like that in a Fuel Depot.

  1. Mags is no longer allowed to use Saltwater in conjunction with her Semblance as a Hydraulic Fluid for any vehicle, machine, or weapons system.



43a. For added clarification, her Semblance means that Saltwater actually acts as an even better hydraulic fluid than standard issue. In fact, she can prevent the Saltwater from doing any damage to the system at all. This rule is being instituted because the Marines won’t stop trying to beat her “sweetest jump”, which they literally cannot.

43b. On a related note, Mags is no longer permitted to modify Saltwater so that it looks like Wine. Just because Private Jensen asked doesn’t mean you should try to replicate biblical miracles, especially if it results in our Chaplain drinking Saltwater.

  1. The blue thousand-liter tank in the Port Hangar Bay is not to be tampered with for any reason, we are keeping that for Mags to use in an emergency.



  1. Please, use caution when sharing Earth-based music with Remnant natives, especially barkeepers. Nobody wants to listen to “Livin’ la Vida Loca” that many times.



44a. Yes, Tchaikovsky did record some of his music with actual cannons. I would like to remind all artillery elements that they are not Tchaikovsky and should focus on hitting their targets rather than their musical aptitude. Knock it off.

44b. This rule applies to air crews as well (impressive ballad, Voodoo squadron).

44c. Following “The Battle of the the Dancing Dinosaurs”, this rule has been rescinded EXCLUSIVELY for members of Spellmaster Squadron on the ground that their Vultures are unusually well-suited to “making the enemy get groovy”. Footage of the event is available upon request at the Mess Hall.

  1. Please do not tell Atlesian Personnel that Fraternization Regulations do not apply within storage closets (or when the cameras are off).



45a. I want to reiterate that this rule applies to UNSC Personnel as well. Fraternization Regulations are still in effect even when you’re locked in a tiny metal box (I understand that it’s private, but that’s hardly romantic, now isn’t it people).

45b. Atlesian Personnel curious as to the specifics of Fraternization Regulations are encouraged to consult Sergeant Spain or Sergeant Fairfire with any questions you may have. Overall, just keep it professional and off of Duty Hours and we won’t have any problems.

  1. Specialist Schnee is no longer permitted within a three meter radius of the ice machine in the Mess Hall for the sake of the safety of the Cooks. (Winter has clarified that the associated incident was unintentional, all injuries have been treated and forgiven)



  1. It has recently come to the attention of certain UNSC Personnel that the Atlesian Military does not name their gunships. While helping Atlesian Pilots christen their strike craft is certainly an admira goal, encouraging them to name their gunships after sexual euphemisms is inappropriate and now forbidden.



47a. Bad puns are also not permitted suggestions (besides, they’re flying gunships, not punships).

47b. The UNSC Say My Name already exists, you cannot use that.

47c. So does the UNSC Mild Inconvenience.

47d. At the express request of General Ironwood, no naming suggestions may include references to Earth-based conflicts (nothing specific anyway, general stuff like “Kilroy” is perfectly fine)

47e. BoatymcBoatface is not fine.

  1. Do not use Air Dust to clear clogs in the plumbing. I don’t care how effective it is, you morons nearly knocked off Lieutenant Gage’s head with a wad of solid cooking oil.



48a. This applies to the toilets as well. (I bet you there isn’t another ship in the Fleet that has to remind its personnel not to use IEDs to clean toilets)

48b. Using Fire Dust to heat MREs is a very bad idea, don’t. Burn cream is now being issued on a Platoon Basis for those who learned this the hard way.

48c. Gravity Dust is exceptionally dangerous and should not be toyed with. Specialist Winter is still doing classes on how to properly employ this specific type of Dust in battle. It is also not to be used for practical jokes.

48d. Any rumors that we are testing a Gravity-Dust assisted Jetpack are to be denied and dismissed.

48e. Rumors are rumors people, I can’t confirm anything.

  1. All UNSC Tankers are advised to preserve High-Explosive Anti-Tank ammunition whenever possible due to difficulties in manufacturing replacement rounds. That being said, Corporal Henry’s homemade Dust Hybrid “High Explosive Anti Everything” Round proved to be surprisingly effective. Additional prototypes are being considered for production.



49a. Collateral damage is to be kept to a minimum in all circumstances, even if the property in question was formerly owned by the Schnee Dust Company. I’m talking to you Crusader Company, I don’t want to see another “Dust Geyser” situation.

  1. Explosive ordnance is not to be used to go fishing.



50a. Regular ordinance is not to be used to go fishing.

50b. Yes, Sergeant Benjamin managed to subdue a Grimm Shark in hand to hand combat. No, you are not allowed to try and do the same.

50c. Rules 50 and 50a are no longer in effect whenever the fish in question is actually a Grimm. As for regular fish, the rules still apply.

50d. Lieutenant Jorge has already shared the Clam Recipe in the Dominion’s database as the “Linda Special”. It is available to download for all personnel, including non-UNSC operatives. Please, stop emailing me about it.

50e. Ordnance is not to be used to pry open giant clams (do you guys not have crowbars?)

50f. Mags is no longer allowed to use her Semblance to throw PFC. Winters into the air.

50g. Crabs do not count towards your units kill roster, nor do they count as “armored targets”.

50h. Do not eat sand (You people are going to give me a goddamn aneurysm) 

More will follow as needed (This is not a challenge, stay safe and follow orders, we have a job to do).


	18. “Non-Specific Winter Holiday Special”

**BY Kpmh2001**

**UNSC Dominion**

**Barracks**

Ben was a bit of a stranger to the concept of a holiday, let alone a bunch of them happening seemingly at once. Truth be told, it made him a bit uncomfortable at how everyone around him seemed to be so well-accustomed to all the strange changes around the Dominion. He’d been trained to fear the unknown, and now that instinct was inspiring him to feel paranoid about something that was, by all metrics, completely harmless.

For one thing, some of the Navy crewmen had mounted all of these tiny colored lights and vaguely ice-like fuzzy rope around a bunch of the bulkheads. At first, Ben had assumed it to be some sort of tribute to the deceased, but that clearly wasn’t the case, as nobody seemed to be particularly sorrowful around them. After that, he had noticed that sometimes they would change color, and so he assumed that it was some sort of seasonal logic puzzle. All of his guesses turned out to be incorrect, evidently people just liked shiny lights and decorations.

Another oddity was the candles. It seemed that some of the Marines had managed to trade with the locals on Remnant for old-timey candles made of wax or animal fat. Most of them were assembled on these small metal pedestals, either in groups of seven or nine. It seemed that the pedestals were specifically built for this very purpose, and when Ben asked the Dominion’s Chaplain, a man named Jensen, he said that they held a great deal of religious significance for many people of more than one faith.

Perhaps that was why all of these festivities seemed so strange to him, as Ben wasn’t really a religious person. The closest thing that he’d ever had to a spiritual experience was during his training, with what all of the Alpha and Beta Company washouts that served as trainers called “The Ghosts of Onyx”.

The story went that a team of Spartan IIIs from Beta Company had been training around the sectioned off ONI-controlled region on Onyx known as “Zone 67”, when they had encountered some kind of bright lights that floated throughout the trees and stalked them. All of the Spartans went missing, and trespassing into the area was declared grounds for immediate expulsion from the Spartan III program. Ben’s experience however, had been a bit more indirect.

It had been a dark, rainy, and unforgivingly cold night, and Ben had been doing sniper qualifications with a number of his peers. Sitting in an uncomfortable position high up in an Acacia tree, his limbs bent and positioned not unlike the pieces of a pretzel, all so that he could stop the shivering of his limbs from affecting his aim, and to make him as hard to detect as possible. For hours, he sat in that tree, not moving for anything as he used the Oracle N-variant scope of an SRS99AM Sniper Rifle to survey for any kind of target.

Something strange had happened that night, so strange in fact, that even Curie had no idea exactly what had occurred. It started when a series of red flares were fired up into the air, painting the Savannah in brilliant red light in lieu of the darkness that had existed prior. Ben knew better than to try to move for better cover, if he did, he would only be exposing himself to any of the other Spartan trainees who were looking out for him. While he didn’t know why the Flares were being launched, he could guess that this was something the instructors had planned to shake up the scenario.

But then a signal came across on the radio, from Lieutenant Commander Ambrose himself. “All candidates, be advised, you are to hold your fire and make your way to any of the evacuation sites as quickly as possible. This exercise is being postponed indefinitely.”

Curie sent a brief acknowledgement on Ben’s behalf as he climbed down from the tree, being careful to avoid straining his sore limbs or damaging his rifle. A direct order from the Commanding Officer was not to be ignored, even if it was under strange circumstances. “That is most unusual, I wonder what has happened?”

“Maybe Chief Mendez fell down the Canyon.” Ben jokingly suggested.

“Benjamin!” Curie chastised. “That is not funny!”

Ben chuckled at how even though she put on a veneer of being offended, there was a bit of levity in her voice. “Relax Curie. Honestly, I can’t imagine why they would cancel an exercise, especially after they went through the effort of dropping us all out here.”

“Neither can I, hopefully we do not need to worry-” Curie began to reply, before both she and Ben heard the telltale cracking of a sniper rifle, then another, then the report of automatic fire from an Assault Rifle.

  
Ben instinctively lowered himself to the ground, before he remembered something critical. “Hold on, Curie, didn’t Lieutenant Ambrose give the hold fire order?”

“He did.” Curie noted. “Perhaps they encountered a wild animal.”

_ That’s a lot of gunfire to take down a wild animal… _ Ben thought, before the far louder sound reverberated throughout the night, the detonation of a grenade. “...Somehow I doubt that.”

“Keep heading for the extraction point, I’ll alert monsieur Ambrose that something may be wrong.” Curie said, a sense of urgency in her voice.

Despite the apparent danger that somebody else had been in, Ben reached the extraction point without any further issue. Curie reported the event along with what little information she and Ben had, but seemingly nothing ever came of the event. The next morning, it was announced that the entire region was now off-limits for any training exercises, and that there was nothing further to be said about the event.

Of course, that didn’t explain the disappearance of four of the trainers, all of whom had been washouts from Alpha and Beta Company. When Ben had asked Richard about it, Richard’s reply had been very simple and telling.

“Don’t get involved, this doesn’t concern you. Worry about your training.”

Ben did exactly that, and with no other answer as to what ever happened, the other Gamma Company Spartan Trainees all latched onto the same rumor, the Ghosts of Onyx must have claimed another set of victims.

That night contrasted quite heavily with what Ben was seeing aboard the Dominion. There was no fear, no danger, no suspenseful waiting for a fight, hell, it wasn’t even raining. Instead, people seemed genuinely happy, which admittedly probably had something to do with the increase to alcohol rations, but there was more to it than that it seemed. He knew that a lot of people took comfort in cultural traditions and spirituality, but he didn’t personally understand much of either.

_ I should ask Curie, she’s always been a lot more informed about this sort of thing. _ Ben thought.

He made his way to one of the Dominion’s innumerable holotanks as soon as he was done with his assignments for the day. “Hey Curie, do you have a moment?”

Curie projected her avatar in response, and Ben immediately realized something different about her. She was wearing a digital hat over her hair, which seemed to be fuzzy and loose fitting, and featured a small silver ball at the end.

“Hello again cher ami, what did you need?” Curie asked. Ben vaguely recalled that specific bit of french meant “dear friend”, or something to that effect.

“I wanted to ask about some… things.” Ben began to explain, but was distracted as a pair of Navy Crewman both walked past him down the corridor, each of whom were wearing hats not dissimilar to the one that Curie was. Although these hats were red and white, rather than the light blue that defined Curie’s hologram.

Curie giggled at his confusion. “Well yes, I suppose that makes sense. What kind of things did you want to ask about?”

Ben ignored her teasing and focused on the reason why he had come to her. “Well, it seems like a lot of the crew are celebrating the uh, Holidays. I was wondering if you knew more about it.”

Curie frowned slightly at Ben’s words, before shaking her head. “Ben, take me with you for a little while. I believe that you may need a bit of education on the Holiday Season.”

Ben did as he was told and let Curie download herself into her datachip before inserting it into his Neural Lace. He immediately felt her reassuring presence in his skull, which always put his mind at ease.

“Ben, what do you know about the Holiday Season?” Curie asked.

Ben wracked his mind for a moment, but came up with very little. “...During Training, we would do lots of Arctic Warfare exercises at the South Pole.”

Even though she didn’t say anything, Ben could practically feel Curie’s frustration at his answer.

“Oh, and Chief Mendez once caught a bunch of trainees and instructors doing… something with a tree that they cut down, I think.” Ben continued. His own memory of the event was somewhat fuzzy, and to be fair, he had only been six years old at the time.

“I believe I read about that after I was activated. They were planning to decorate it, and turn it into a Christmas Tree.” Curie explained.

“Christmas…” Ben said the word aloud, there was something familiar about it, but he couldn’t remember why. “I do remember Chief Mendez being really grumpy about something, so everything seemed normal to me.”

Curie laughed at Mendez’s expense, even though both she and Ben had immense respect for the Spartan’s lead instructor, they were also quite fond of making fun of him. Ben smiled behind his visor, he always enjoyed it when Curie laughed.

“Well, I believe that he must have changed his mind, because apparently no disciplinary actions were filed.” Curie noted.

Ben almost couldn’t believe what he had heard, CPO. Mendez, the legendary, brutal mentor of the Spartans, had let trainees off of the hook for something. “That’s… unlike him.”

“Perhaps he was feeling a bit of the Holiday Spirit?” Curie suggested. Thankfully, she quickly realized that he had no idea what he was talking about. “Due to the numerous Holiday Celebrations at this time of year, it is common for people to be more charitable, forgiving, and jolly than normal.”

Ben chuckled. “Alright, I think I can safely call Mendez charitable, but forgiving? Jolly?”

“Perhaps you misunderstand, this is a universal phenomenon. While obviously everyone isn’t cheerful at this time of the year, it is seen as a sort of tradition.” Curie elaborated.

“...I see.” Ben replied. He still didn’t quite understand how something as inconsistent and intangible as happiness could be considered a timely tradition, but as with most aspects of civilian life, it was probably more complicated than it seemed.

“Did… you truly not know any of this?” Curie asked, her voice rich with concern.

Ben thought back, now that she had mentioned it, he did have some vague memories surrounding the Holiday Season. None of which were with his long-gone biological family, but there was still a handful that dated back to his training.“I remember some of the Instructors did a bunch of celebrations in the Winter… but I didn’t really know what they were doing.”

“Oh Ben…” Curie trailed off sadly. 

Ben always felt a sense of sympathy from her whenever they had conversations like this, regarding aspects of life that he just didn’t understand. His upbringing in the Spartan Program meant that many of these concepts were simply never taught to him, and Curie was never shy of sharing her opinions on how she felt about that.

Personally, Ben wished that she wouldn’t worry about him so much, it didn’t bother him nearly as much as it seemed to bother her. Hearing Curie be unhappy was what really bothered him, but thankfully, there was usually something that he could do about that.

“It’s okay Curie.” Ben said. He was absolutely dreadful at reassurances, but he hoped that he could keep Curie happy. “You know, I don’t have any orders at the moment. If you’ve got some time, maybe you could teach me about it.”

Curie gasped with excitement. “I… of course I have time! I would be happy to partake in the festivities with you!”

Ben smiled, Curie was happy again, his self-appointed mission had been a success. “So… where do we start?”

As it turned out, getting started was the easy part. Curie led him around the ship for the next hour and a half, where he would use his unusually tall stature to place decorations in locations that most other Crewmen would’ve required something to stand on in order to reach. All the while, Curie told him stories of the various myths, legends, and tales that seemed to form a sort of collective holiday mythos. 

Between Santa Claus, Krampus, Saint Nicholas, old religious tales centered around Abarhamic Faiths, and Ben’s personal favorite, the “Christmas Goat”, there was certainly no shortage of stories to tell. Curie was quick to remind him that they were all, in her words, “fictional, but usually harmless”. All of them seemed to possess some common traits, like how children who behaved properly would receive gifts, while sometimes misbehaving children would be punished.

It did seem however, that Santa Claus was the most popular Holiday Character aboard the Dominion, just judging by the sheer number of costumes and decorations that the crew seemed to collectively possess. Even Curie was stumped as to why that was, as while Santa Claus was predominantly viewed as a North American character, most of the Dominion’s Crew was either of Eastern European, like Ben, or of an Asian descent.

After that, Curie led him to participate in a Christmas-themed version of a popular board game called “Monopoly” with some of the Naval Crewmen and Marines. Although it was largely fuelled by random chance, Ben noted that there was a degree of strategy in what decisions the players would have to make in regards to certain events and “properties” in the game. Curie won, as everyone had anticipated, and as the prize, she demanded to keep the tiny wooden reindeer piece that had represented her on the board.

“I’m not sure that you joining us in a logic and economics competition was entirely fair to the rest of us.” Ben pointed out as he pocketed the piece. He opted to keep it in the chest pocket where he kept his few other personal possessions, most notably, the Dog Tags of his fallen Squadmates.

“You had fun, admit it!” Curie jokingly accused.

“You’re right, I did… but I think you gave the rest of those guys some killer headaches.” Ben replied.

“Oh, they’ll be just fine. A bit of humility might do them some good” Curie eplied.

Despite the ultimately frivolous nature of the activities, Ben found them to be very calming, fun even. Although the logical part of his brain was telling him that there were probably ways he could be making himself useful, he was willing to ignore that, at least for the moment.

After around another hour or so of Curie teaching Ben about the Holiday Season, they were stopped by Nathan,

“Hey guys, could you meet me in the Ready Room in like Five Minutes? I’ve got a special mission for us.”

Before Ben could even ask him what was going on, Nathan jogged off. Judging by Nathan’s giddy-looking grin, whatever he had planned probably had not been sanctioned by the Commander.

_ Oh, this oughta be good. _ Ben thought. He opted to go along with whatever Nathan was planning for the time being, hopefully if it was dangerous or unusually stupid, Ben would be able to put a stop to it.

When he and Curie arrived in the Ready Room, Ben found that Nathan had already assembled himself, Meadows, Fairfire, Yu, Fireball, and her co-pilot, who appeared to be sleeping. Ben was about to speak up when Nathan raised a finger to shush him, out of curiosity, Ben complied. 

When Nathan did speak, he did so in a comical british accent, an obvious mockery of Captain Clark. “Now, I’m sure you’re wondering why I have gathered you all here. The reason is that we are needed for a very special mission that only we can perform.”

“Why is he talking like that?” Ben looked to Fairfire for an answer. She seemed to know Nathan the best, so it seemed like a good idea.

“Because he’s an idiot.” Fairfire replied, although there wasn’t any coldness of disapproval in her voice. If anything, she seemed proud.

Nathan continued with his briefing undeterred. “I’ve received word from a good friend who works in the Mess Hall that the Dominion was not restocked with Ham before we arrived in Shunspace. In fact, we don’t have Pork either, or even Bacon.”

“Where is he going with this?” Ben privately muttered to Curie.

“I suppose there is only one way to find out.” Curie pointed out.

“To remedy that, I have devised a solution.” Nathan explained. “Curie, if you don’t mind, could you bring up the Satellite Map on the main screen? We’re looking for the village of Arroyo.”

Curie complied, causing the main screen of the Ready Room to activate, which displayed a still image of the village that had been taken by a passing UNSC satellite.

  
“I’m sure all of you remember Arroyo, well, except for maybe Fireball.” Nathan said, gesturing towards the pilot as he spoke.

She waved away the concern. “Nah, I remember just fine. You all went down there to kill some Grimm. Thralls, I think.”

Ben fought the urge to shudder, he did not need a reminder of that particular experience.

“That’s good.” Nathan said. “Well, according to their Mayor, they’re having a pest problem, apparently they’ve got something they call a “Brush Beast” tearing up their crops and even killing some pets. According to my-”

Nathan cleared his throat in an exaggerated manner. “-extensive and scientific research, I have found that the Brush Beast is not dissimilar from what we would call a Boar.”

Ben frowned, he could already see where this was going.

“The village has put out a bounty of a thousand Lien on the thing’s head, but with the Huntsmen are all too busy either on vacation or covering for their slacking co-workers, it seems doubtful that they’re gonna get any help.” Nathan said with a coy smile. “...Or at least, it seemed like that. In the spirit of the Holidays, and also my desperate need for Bacon, I elected to volunteer ourselves for the duty!”

Meadows, Fireball, and Fairfire politely clapped, as if Nathan had just finished a grand performance.

“You don’t have the authority to make that decision.” Ben pointed out. “You’d need to run that past Commander Richard or Lieutenant Bradford first.”

“Would we?” Nathan asked, feigning a sense of ignorance. “I thought we had standing orders to protect the citizens of Remnant, and by the sounds of it, this Bacon Monster- I mean, Boar, has been causing some real havoc.”

Curie sighed with a sense of annoyance. “I will admit that by that technicality, you are correct. And while I sympathize with your desire to help the people of Remnant-”

“And his stomach.” Fairfire interjected, earning a few snickers from Meadows and Fireball at Nathan’s expense.

“Guilty.” Nathan admitted.

“Ahem.” Curie said. Although she couldn’t actually clear her throat, simply speaking the word aloud seemed to successfully recapture the attention of the Marines. “As I was saying, there are proper channels for this sort of thing. Perhaps we should consult those first.”

“Hey, I’m an officer, I can sign off on it!” Fireball pointed out. Even though her tone betrayed nothing and her posture was confident, Ben could tell that underneath her helmet, she probably had a massive shit-eating grin.

  
“You’re a Navy Pilot, not a Marine C.O.” Ben pointed out.

“...Same difference!” Fireball said in much the same manner, even gesturing as if Ben was being the unreasonable one.

  
“Hey, come on Ben, none of us have any other duties! I’m sure we could sign off for some shore leave and go hunt some Boar, it’ll be fun!” Meadows said. He gave Ben an encouraging punch in the shoulder, but seemed to have forgotten that Ben was wearing a suit of Mjolnir power armor, and immediately shook his hand in slight pain at his mistake.

“A Boar Hunt does not sound like it qualifies as a recreational activity, let alone a seasonally appropriate one.” Curie argued.

“Hey, you can’t have a Christmas Ham at the feast if you don’t have any Ham!” Nathan pointed out.

“Yeah, and me and my dad used to hunt Boars when I was a kid.” Meadows responded. Ben gave him an odd look which apparently made Meadows a bit uncomfortable. “Have you uh, never hunted Boars before?”

The closest thing that Ben had to an experience with hunting was beating a feral wolf to death during Boot Camp on a training mission. “Not personally, no.”

Meadows shook his head in response. “Alright, then you can let me take the lead. It’ll be fun!”

Ben shook his head. “We still would need authorization from Command.”

“I’ll sign off on it.” Richard’s voice unexpectedly emitted from Ben’s helmet speakers. Everyone in the Room except for Ben recoiled in shock at the interjection.

“Uh… hello Commander… didn’t notice you there.” Nathan stammered out.

“Hello Private.” Richard replied, betraying absolutely no emotion. “As I said, I’ll sign off on it. It’s better that you’re doing some kind of public service than lounging about thinking up ways to subvert the Chain of Command.”

“Are you sure, Commander?” Ben asked. He was quite surprised to hear Richard sign off on such a poorly-planned mission.

“It’s just like Private Winters said, we have a standing duty to protect the people of Remnant. Granted, normally we do that in other ways, but I think that a mission with somewhat lower stakes is far from a bad thing.” Richard said. “Fireball, you and your Co-pilot will fly them out to Arroyo. And kindly pick up some more rum while you’re out, would you? I heard the Distillery around there is top-notch.”

Fireball leaned back in her seat confidently. “Oh I can personally assure you Commander, it is. Don’t worry, you can count on us!”

“Just don’t break into it before you get back to the Dominion.” Richard sternly said. “Fairfire, you’ll be leading the mission, hopefully Meadows can give you some pointers. You’ll depart as soon as you're ready.”

Fairfire looked a bit surprised by what Richard was saying, but nodded firmly nonetheless. “Sir, Yes Sir!”

“Good hunting people, literally.” Richard concluded. “Oh, and a word of advice Private. In the future, make sure to announce all of your hair-brained plans to the A.I who has standing orders to provide security aboard the Dominion.”

Nathan shook his head in disappointment. “Curie, you little snitch, how could you do this to me?”

“Hey now, no need for that, she was doing her job, like what you should be doing.” Richard sternly said. “You all be careful, and make sure that thing is dead. All goes well here, we’ll help out some people on Remnant, get some fresh meat, and spread the Holiday Spirit all at once.”

  
“You mean the Christmas Spirit, right Sir?” Nathan asked.

  
“Shut up Private.” Richard bluntly replied. “Any other questions?”

Nobody spoke up.

“Good, see you when it’s done. Hopefully a bit of Christmas Ham will boost Morale a bit.” Richard said.

“Sir Yes Sir!” Everyone in the room sounded off, before Curie switched off the transmission.

“Nicely done.” Ben privately complimented Curie.

“Just so you know, I would have insisted that we go even if Richard had said no.” Curie pointed out.

Ben scowled. “...Yeah, I know.”

“Well, let’s not waste any time then!” Fireball said as she stood up, slapping her napping co-pilot on the back of the helmet as she passed.

“Huh? What? What’d I miss?” He asked as he looked around the room only to see everybody leaving to prepare.

Ben didn’t answer, he really didn’t know what he would say.

**Arroyo, Menagerie Outskirts**

Arroyo resembled an old western town more than it did any other place from the rest of Menagerie. Between the long central road with much of the town built along it and the relatively new wooden buildings that still somehow managed to look old, it was certainly an odd change of pace from the snow of Mantle or the brisk forests and cityscapes of Argus. A bunch of the buildings even had that strange design where they would have a fake structure on the front of their store in order to give the impression of a flat roof, when in actuality it was slanted. Of course, no matter where on Remnant Fireball landed, her Pelican would look incredibly out of place with its surroundings.

“I’ll uh, proceed with our uh, “logistics mission””.” Fireball said as Onyx Team dismounted the bird. “Call us if you need some fire support, or when you’ve bagged the thing.”

“Hey, it’s just a big pig, I doubt we’ll need an airstrike.” Fairfire replied, giving Fireball’s reminder a wave of dismissal as a sign of confidence.

“Yeah well, my offer stands.” Fireball said. The pilot gave her co-pilot a whack on the shoulder to secure his attention. “Come on, we’ve got our own mission, remember?”

Ben didn’t hear the rest of the exchange as Onyx Team began the walk down the street to their first stop, Town Hall. There they would meet up with Arroyo’s Mayor for the latest information on their target. 

Ben remembered Mayor Tunguska from his previous mission to Arroyo, she was a Rhino Faunus who wore an outfit not unlike one that would be found in the old American West. Even though she wasn’t actually a Huntress, she still carried an old six-shooter revolver. Funnily enough, her weapon was one of the few that Ben had seen that could actually mount a bayonet, even though it was a pistol.

_ I’m never going to get used to this planet. _ Ben thought as he passed by another Faunus Citizen, this one carrying a large, homemade shotgun on their back.

As it turned out, Tunguska was waiting outside of Town Hall. She had been discussing something with one of her citizens, but she sent them away as soon as she spotted Onyx Team. Ben noted her tense posture and stoney expression, clearly something bad had happened.

“Mayor Tunguska, it’s good to see you alive and well.” Ben said. Technically protocol dictated that Sergeant Fairfire should speak first, but Ben figured that the friendly gesture was probably acceptable.

After their earlier encounter with the Thralls, Ben had been somewhat worried for her safety, as any Grimm with even a modicum of intelligence would know to target the person in charge. Thankfully, Onyx Team had made short work of them.

“Likewise Sergeant.” She replied. There was none of the gusto in her voice that Ben had heard during his previous visit, in fact, she sounded downright exhausted. “So, I take it that this Nathan fellow wasn’t just telling tales, you’re here to kill Big Bubba?”

Fairfire butted in to answer. “If that’s the name of your Brush Beast, then yeah, we’re here to kill it.”

Tunguska nodded gratefully. “Well the best news I’ve heard all damn day. I’ve been trying to get some support from the Huntsmen up in Kuo Kuana, but it seems like everybody’s busy with something.”

“It is the Holidays, they’re all probably spending time with their families.” Nathan pointed out.

Ben shook his head in disappointment. “They should know better. The enemy isn’t going to let up just because we’re celebrating.”

“Hey uh, Ben.” Meadows interjected. “I’m not saying you're wrong, but try to keep in mind that sometimes we get the Holidays off too.”

“People who live in glass houses Benjamin, should not criticize others' strategic decisions.” Curie jokingly chastised him, keeping her presence private as to not startle Mayor Tunguska.

“Right, fair enough.” Ben replied, he knew better than to argue against Curie.

“But in all seriousness, if you are going after Bubba, you’re going to want to think this through carefully, and maybe bring some bigger guns.” Tunguska continued, gesturing at Nathan’s Series Two SRS99-AM Sniper Rifle, which was the largest weapon that any of them had. “I know you handled the Thralls well, but a Brush Beast ain’t like Grimm. They’re skittish and very territorial, and their hide is like the armor of… well, kind of like you Sergeant.”

Ben gave Tunguska a nod of acknowledgement at her comment while Fairfire answered. “Our guns might look a bit simple compared to some of your stuff, but they hit hard. We’ll take it down just fine.”

“Hey, I’m just trying to look out for ya. I’ve gotten quite fond of having somebody actually be able to help out for a change.” Tunguska shrugged. “Don’t be ashamed if you’ve gotta come back for some second thoughts. This thing’s killed a couple of our people, so… well, expect anything.”

“Um, about that.” Nathan awkwardly interjected. “You uh, didn’t mention that it had killed people.”

Tunguska gave a sad nod. “It was only around an hour ago, otherwise I would’ve told ya’ over the radio. If you could get us some vengeance, well, you’d earn a round at the Saloon from me, at the very least.”

_ If this thing is actively killing civilians, it’s in our jurisdiction. _ Ben thought. Any doubts he might have still had about the nature of their mission were now gone, replaced with a drive to do his duty.

  
“Hey, if this thing is killing people, we’ll put it down.” Fairfire said, mirroring Ben’s thoughts perfectly. “Lead the way, Mayor.”

“I can try to help guide us using one of the Clarion Spotting Drones from the Dominion, but I will probably have a bit of difficulty finding the Beast itself. These are meant to locate Starships, not wild animals.” Curie said over TEAMCOM.

“Don’t worry Curie, I think we’ve got this.” Meadows replied.

Curie sighed. “I wish that I could be as confident as you Sergeant, I fear that we will be trying to find a piece of hay in a stack of needles.”

“Uh, did you mean ‘A needle in a haystack.’?” Nathan asked.

“I did not.” Curie stated. “The Menagerie Wildlands are legendary for their lack of habitability, many of the wild animals here are just as dangerous as the Grimm. I felt that modifying the metaphor better communicated that danger.”

“...Oh that’s just great.” Nathan replied.

Tunguska led Onyx Team to the outskirts of town and sent them on their way with a few hints as to where she assumed that the Boar known as Big Bubba had gone. Her best guess suggested that the creature had found itself a nesting spot in a nearby gulley, providing a perfect opportunity for Onyx Team to fire upon the creature from above.

They set out without further delay, keeping their pace at a steady jog rather than a normal march. A handful of Grimm that resembled small varmints tried to stop them, but demonic versions of squirrels and chipmunks weren’t much of a match for automatic gunfire. In many cases, Ben’s Kukri alone proved sufficient to dispatch them with minimal effort.

_ I have no idea why they didn’t issue every Spartan with one of these. _ Ben thought with satisfaction as he hacked a Ratlike Grimm in half with a single gruesome strike.

“Jesus, remind me not to piss you off.” Nathan said as he watched the creature disappear.

“I do not believe that Jesus will be able to answer you, monsieur Nathan. My logs suggest he is… busy.” Curie answered his concern.

“That’s not… oh for the love of God, you know what I mean!” Nathan protested. “Besides, Christmas is only in a few days, I’m sure Jesus has an ear to spare to listen!”

  
“Quit your yapping and up the pace ladies!” Fairfire commanded. Ben was quite surprised that none of the ODSTs even seemed winded with the rate at which they were jogging, except for Nathan, who was burdened with carrying his heavy Sniper Rifle.

“I can smell something rotting, we must be getting close!” Meadows announced. “Follow my lead!”

“Yeah uh, that might not be a good thing.” Nathan breathlessly pointed out.

Fairfire pushed him out of the way as she walked up next to Meadows. “Yeah, I smell it too. You take point Meadows, you have all the experience.”

It didn’t take long for him to find what it was that was rotting. Thankfully it wasn’t any of the villagers that the Boar had killed, instead, it was a wild animal that resembled an Ibex without its horns.

“Uh, yeah, I think our Boar’s been through here.” Meadows stared blankly at the utterly ravaged corpse.

“Either that or some really hungry velociraptors…” Nathan muttered.

  
Meadows gave a gesture for him to stop. “Hey, knowing this planet, those might be real. Don’t jinx us.”

“We must be close, let’s ease up on the pace, keep our eyes open.” Fairfire stated.

  
“Yes Sergeant.” Ben replied, followed shortly by the rest of the squad.

“Hold up a moment!” Meadows announced as he kneeled down to the ground. “Check this out.”

Meadows pointed out a set of indents in the hard soil, and once they were pointed out, Ben couldn’t believe he’d not spotted the tracks in the first place. They were more like potholes in an asphalt road, not the footprints of a boar.

“How big is this thing?!” Nathan demanded.

“Not big enough to stop us.” Fairfire answered. “Nathan, can you use your Semblance to see where it went?”

“...Maybe?” Nathan replied. After around twenty seconds of awkwardly staring at the ground, Nathan stumbled back in surprise. “Woah, okay, yeah, I can see where it went.”

  
Meadows shook his head. “That’s crazy dude. How the hell does your Semblance even work?”

“I already told you, it’s like the VISR, but better.” Nathan answered. “Alright, it went that way.”

“Are you sure? The tracks go the other way.” Fairfire pointed out.

“No, I think he’s right… I think the feet on this thing are weird. It’s like it was walking backwards or something.” Meadows said.

“Not to interrupt, but we do have something of a deadline.” Curie interjected. “The sun will set soon, and we do not want to be caught out here in the dark.”

Fairfire nodded. “Right. Meadows, Nathan, you’re leading the way. Ben, watch our Six and kill any Grimm that try to sneak up on us.”

“Yes Sergeant.” They all replied.

It was slow progress, but with a combination of Nathan’s Semblance and Meadow’s experience hunting boars, they were able to make some progress towards Big Bubba. Nathan’s inexperience with his Semblance offered some issues, and occasionally Meadows would get led off course by the seemingly erratic paths that the Boar had walked. But eventually, all of them halted suddenly, as they heard the sound of meat tearing.

Fairfire gave a gesture for them to move up to the Gulley just ahead of them, and sure enough, as soon as Ben peeked over the edge and into the natural decline, he could see the target.

They had made a slight miscalculation in the size of the animal. Standing on stubby but sturdy legs, the boar was the size of a Scorpion Tank, and it was probably around the same weight as well. It’s tusks looked more like spires of rock than any kind of external body part, and when it exhaled, the steam that emerged from its nostrils was incredibly thick, pointing to an incredibly hot blood temperature. It was currently tearing into the corpse of a similarly sized animal with its teeth, although it was so maimed that Ben couldn’t hope to tell what kind of creature it had been.

“Holy shit.” Nathan whispered over TEAMCOM, and given the utterly gigantic ears that the Boar had, Ben certainly could empathize with his desire to keep things quiet. “So uh, we’re pulling back, right?”

“Not a chance! We can take this thing, we’ve just got to be smart about it.” Fairfire replied.

“But… without any heavy weapons?” Nathan asked.

“We’ve got a few options.” Ben said. “I’ve got a plasma grenade, but I’d prefer to avoid using that, if we can help it.”

Not only was the alien grenade entirely irreplaceable, but it would also render the corpse radioactive, and thus inedible. Granted, that was certainly a lesser point compared to the wasting of munitions, but it was still a factor towards the secondary objective of their mission.

“Agreed, use that as a last resort.” Fairfire said. “Do you still have those Dust Grenades?”

  
“In my rucksack, bottom left pouch.” Ben answered.

Fairfire quietly crept over to his position while Ben kept his Battle Rifle trained on the head of the creature. Even if actually killing it with an infantry firearm seemed to be a very difficult task, he could at least take out the Boar’s eyes and buy the Team some time to kill it.

Fairfire let out a quiet whistle as she withdrew a pair of Atlesian Military Dust Grenades, courtesy of General Ironwood. “Hot damn Nathan, how come you never get me anything this nice?”

“Hey, how am I supposed to know what ladies like?” Nathan quietly demanded.

“If it’s explosive, I want it for my Birthday, or Christmas.” Fairfire said. “How do we want this porker done lads, flash-frozen or char-broiled?”

“I suggest we use the Ice-Dust grenade to immobilize the hind legs of the creature while Nathan uses his Sniper Rifle to destroy the achilles tendons of its front legs. That way, we can immobilize it, at least for a minute or two, during which you can concentrate your fire on the creature’s head.”

Fairfire was silent for a moment as she thought the plan over. “...It could work.”

“Hit the bottom of the neck at it’s base, if this thing is like a normal boar, that’s a junction for a bunch of arteries. It’ll bleed out in minutes.” Meadows suggested, Ben adjusted his aim accordingly.

  
“...And flood the valley in the process.” Nathan joked.

“Alright, I’ll throw the grenade. Meadows, Ben, grab your targets, I’ll help out with my magnum.” Fairfire said as she drew her M6C/SOCOM in one hand and the grenade in the other. “Are we ready?”

“Yeah… let’s do this.” Nathan answered.

“Shot’s ready.” Ben answered.

“About as ready as I can be.” Meadows said.

Fairfire primed the grenade and threw it in an underhanded manner. The explosive landed at the feasting Boar’s feet with a dull thud, which it did not seem to even notice. The fuse rapidly burned away, and the grenade exploded, effectively summoning a massive iceberg that encompassed the rear half of the Boar, as well as peppering the encased region of the body with shrapnel before the ice had fully formed.

_ Say what you will about the Atlesians, I’m pretty sure we don’t have grenades that did that. _ Ben thought. What few cryonic munitions the UNSC deployed were largely deployed by air, not something as small and convenient to carry as a grenade.

“Weapons free!” Fairfire shouted.

All at once, Ben, Meadows, and Nathan all opened fire, with Fairfire quickly joining it. Nathan’s Sniper Rifle had the biggest effect, and even though Big Bubba’s legs were as thick and dense as hardwood tree trunks, it seemed like the massive anti-material rifle as up to the task, as splinters of bone and sinew were launched out of the Boar’s flesh by Nathan’s rounds.

The rest of the team fired upon the Grimm’s head and neck, and had decidedly worse results. Things started well when Ben put a trio of rounds through the Boar’s left eye, half-blinding it. But it seemed like the Boar’s thick skull was a hefty challenge even for the Armor Piercing Full Metal Jackets that Ben had loaded. As soon as his magazine was empty, he elected to change his strategy.

  
“Use shredder rounds, go for the neck!” Ben shouted over the gunfire. 

Meadows reloaded his own Battle Rifle with the specified ammunition, and together they began to tear away chunks of flesh around the Boar’s throat. All the while, the giant animal thrashed and struggled to escape from it’s icy prison. In spite of the absolutely ridiculous mass that the Iceberg must have had, the Boar was apparently strong enough to shift it by several feet with each thrash and struggle.

“Nathan, target the head!” Fairfire shouted.

“Look out, it’s getting loose!” Meadows screamed.

The iceberg was beginning to crack from the Boar’s repeated thrashes, and the blood from it’s numerous shrapnel wounds was seemingly hot enough that it was actually helping to melt the ice. It hadn’t actually occurred to Ben that the creature’s hot blood might be able to outright melt the beast into freedom. 

Nathan and Meadows both shifted their fire back to the skull, and were seemingly having better luck than Fairfire was with just her pistol. However, the Beast’s skull was seemingly angled in such a way to actually deflect the projectiles fired by Nathan’s rifle, as if it were sloped like the frontal armor of a tank. 

All of the sudden, Mayor Tunguska’s warning made far more sense to Ben.  _ No wonder they couldn’t kill this thing! _

“It seems as though the hide of the Beast can protect it from small explosives!” Curie shouted. “Fairfire, try armor-piercing ammunition!”

Ben quickly put together what she was referring to, the rounds fired by the magnum were of a very high caliber, they did not travel very fast compared to a full-scale rifle, and instead relied on a small explosive charge to deliver their damage. It seemed that the Boar’s hide, while not doing much to stop the high-velocity bullets, was adept at absorbing explosive force. If they could deliver a large enough hit from the right angle, it wouldn’t bounce off of the Boar’s skull, instead, it would go right through.

“Yeah, I think I know what’ll work!” Fairfire shouted as she withdrew her shotgun. 

She racked the slide to eject one of her buckshot shells and loaded an armor-piercing slug. While it didn’t have the same ‘spread’ effect of a traditional shotgun, the stopping power of such a large projectile, particularly one made expressly for penetrating armor, was extreme.

“We’ll have to hit it at a flat angle, that thing’s ricocheting our shots.” Ben pointed out.

As if to punctuate his point, Nathan fired another round into the Brush Beast’s head, only for it to go flying off into the distance with a faint buzzing sound.

“Nathan, stay here, Ben, with me.” Fairfire ordered. “If we shoot it in the mouth, it won’t bounce our shots. If it moves its head, Nathan can kill it. Either way, one of us will get it.”   
  


“Okay but be careful, that thing’s almost free!” Nathan shouted as he reloaded. “Meadows see what you can do to punch out that thing’s back legs!”

“I predict this plan to be quite dangerous Sergeant, are you prepared to use your Semblance if it does not work?” Curie asked.

“...Sure!” Fairfire answered with a notable lack of enthusiasm. “Let’s get moving!”

Using the slope of the gully to slide down to the Boar’s level, Ben was able to acquire a much better shot on the creature, as well as a closer look. The combined impacts of literally hundreds of bullets had taken their toll on the Boar’s hide, and although the Boar’s head was largely in one piece, the skull was exposed in many places, and the creature’s throat had been all but obliterated.

“If we only wait for a few minutes, the brain may be starved of oxygen.” Curie pointed out.

“My way’s faster.” Fairfire replied as she lined up her shotgun with the creature’s head. Fairfire fired, and the creature flinched it’s head back in pain, clearly the shot had penetrated, but it was still alive.

At least, it had been, up until Nathan exploited the opportunity to finally get a flat angle with his Sniper Rifle. Without the danger of his bullet ricocheting, the round was free to do what it was meant to, tunnel into the head and exit out of the other side.

At long last, Big Bubba was finally dead. It’s head fell to the ground limply as Meadows and Nathan slid down the hill to join Ben and Fairfire.

“Holy crap, I’ve seen Hunters die from less rounds than that!” Nathan exclaimed. “What the hell is that thing made of? Are we sure it’s dead?”

“I don’t know… Ben, go give it a stab with your knife, will ya?” Fairfire asked.

Ben was midway through drawing his knife when Curie spoke up. “That won’t be necessary, it has no pulse and no signs of consciousness, it is almost certainly dead.”

“How the hell does something stay alive with no pulse and no consciousness?!” Meadows demanded, although there clearly wasn’t any malice in his voice, only exacerbation.

“I cannot immediately say, however-” Curie began.

  
“Hey Curie, you know who could answer that? Jesus! He knows all about life after death!” Nathan interjected. “Yeah that’s right! I’ve been looking for a comeback for the last goddamn hour! How does it feel, Curie?”

Fairfire gave him a slap upside the helmet. 

“Right, sorry.”

Curie giggled. “I will certainly take that into account, monsieur Nathan. Shall I call Fireball for extraction?”

“Yeah, and radio for some hefty lift gear… we might need an albatross or something to move all of this meat.” Fairfire answered.

“I will see to it madame.” Curie said. “I will let you give Mayor Tunguska the good news.”   
  


While Fairfire and Nathan stepped to the side to call Arroyo and tell them that they were now safe, Ben decided to approach Meadows on a matter that he had mentioned earlier.

  
“So, this was my first Boar hunt.” Ben stated. “Do you think we did good?”

Meadows looked at him a bit incredulously. “Uh, yeah, sure! I mean, most Boars aren’t this big, I hope you know.”

“I’m aware.” Ben replied. “But you were still able to track it, and figure out that it was eating something.”

Meadows cocked his head in confusion. “Are you telling me you didn’t smell that corpse?”

  
“I don’t smell much of anything.” Ben replied, giving his helmet a gentle knock to emphasize his point.

“...Fair enough, and count yourself lucky.” Meadows said. “Now come on, if you want all the meat to stay good, we’ve gotta get to gutting right away.”

Ben drew his kukri and gestured towards the cadaver. “Lead the way.”

**Later**

**The UNSC Dominion, Mess Hall**

There was something pleasantly mundane about seeing the Mess Hall of the Dominion be filled to capacity with Navymen and Marines. Onyx Team sat at their normal windowside table, sitting and waiting for Richard to come along and make his big speech. 

Ben was content to sit quietly in the corner, he wasn’t wearing his armor for a change, at Curie’s insistence. He had been worried that he wouldn’t be ready to immediately leap into a Pelican should a dangerous situation arise, but it seemed as if the Grimm had actually receded from the borders of just about every Kingdom. Of course, that hadn’t been enough for him, so Curie promised to slot him for QRF duty as a Sabre Pilot, seeing as one of the Air Force Fighter Jockeys was in Sickbay. That way, should something bad happen, he would still be able to help.

But at the moment, that seemed like a very unlikely possibility.   
  
“You should have seen the damn thing Yu! This fucker had ears like Radar Dishes, and oh man, the teeth!” Nathan made exaggerated gestures with his hands.

“Yeah, I know, I saw the body. Nice work by the way, haven’t had Bacon in way too long.” Yu replied.

Nathan gave her a look of mock surprise. “Oh, you meant the Pig? I was talking about my Ex-Girlfriend! You would have loved her by the way, she stole my-”

Yu gave him a kick under the table. “Ow, bitch!”

“Knock it off you two.” Fairfire chastised them. “The Commander’s here.”

The whole room went quiet as Richard walked up onto a small podium and tapped the microphone. “Before we begin, I’d like to take a brief moment to thank all of the men and women who will be spending this Christmas out in the field, be they UNSC or otherwise. While it may seem like a small sacrifice to spend a day like any other doing something unpleasant, they do it so that we can celebrate a very… unusual holiday season.”

Richard’s final comment seemed to have sombered the atmosphere of the Mess Hall somewhat, and even though Ben didn’t quite grasp what a traditional Holiday was like, he could still understand why they felt that way. All of the Men and Women around him would probably much rather spend their holidays anywhere other than Remnant, but for the moment, they did not have much of a choice.

“Each and every one of you has performed beyond my wildest expectations. Although I certainly wish none of us ever got stuck here, I couldn’t think of better people to be lost with.” Richard warmly said. “One day, we’ll have a way home, and we’ll be able to spend these precious days with our loved ones… just, not yet.”

Richard reached under his microphone stand and withdrew a bottle of something.

“So, here’s to all of you. Remnant might not know it yet, but they couldn’t have better protectors. So let’s have a toast to all of you, the fighting men and women of the UNSC! And to better days ahead!” Richard exclaimed.

A cacophony of “Oorahs”, “Hooyaas” and “Hoorahs” met Richard’s words from seemingly just about everyone in the Mess Hall, Onyx Team included.

  
“We uh, did remember to pass out the rum, right?” Richard awkwardly asked the Marine to his side, just loud enough for the microphone to pick up on, prompting a bit of laughter from the crowd.

“Apparently they did.” Fairfire said with a satisfied grin as she withdrew a small keg of alcohol from beneath the table.

“Ah, good, good.” Richard said. “Well then, the Galley should have Dinner ready any minute now, so I’ll need a bit more patience from you all!”

As he was speaking, the doors to the Galley swung open, and Navymen pushing gigantic carts of Pork and Ham entered.

“Or not!” Richard quickly added. “Dig in everyone, happy holidays!”

Richard descended from the pedestal, and before long, every table in the Mess Hall was practically overflowing with expertly cooked meat.

“Well, we did it boys, we saved Christmas!” Nathan happily exclaimed as he poured himself perhaps a bit too much rum.

Yu cautiously took the first bite, before quickly giving a thumbs up. “Damn, this is good. I wonder how they prepared it.”

“It’s Pig, how hard could it be?” Nathan asked.   
  


“I have the burns to prove that it’s quite difficult at times.” Meadows answered.

“Just shut up and eat.” Fairfire said, but the friendly tone in her voice gave away that she didn’t really mean it.

“We totally should’ve gotten the first slice of the Roast Beast…” Nathan muttered.

“Technically Ben did, as he gutted the creature.” Curie pointed out.

Nathan gave a hum of acknowledgement, as his mouth was too full of food to answer.

**Meanwhile, In the Galley**

There wasn’t a ship in the entire UNSC Navy that was equipped to cook that much meat practically overnight. As such, the cooks of the Dominion had turned to the only expert on massive-game aboard the entire ship.

Set ‘Vadum

“Well, for humans, you did excellently.” He said. True, the cooks were heretical bastards and quite annoying at times, but they had admittedly served quite well. “If you were Unggoy, I wouldn’t have flushed you out the airlock!”

“...Yay?” One of the less exhausted ones replied. 

Set didn’t respond, instead he picked the fluffy white hat off of her head and placed it on his own. “This is mine now. Well, it’s been great fun! I’ll be in my cell if you need me!”

With his newfound garment, the Elite happily marched out of the kitchen. The Humans might have been the enemy, but he knew that killing them just wasn’t in the Holiday Spirit. Plus, not one of them had any experience cooking any sort of gigantic creature, which as a native to Sanghelios, he had plenty of.

  
_ Human or not, we all deserve a moment to rest. _ Set thought.


	19. "Exchange Program"

**By Kpmh2001**

**Beacon Academy, Cliffside Firing Range**

A very long time ago, Nathan's parents had asked him what he had wanted to do for a living. They had asked more than once actually, and now that he was actively thinking about it, they had seemed quite eager to get him out of their house. But that was a thought for another time.

Eventually, he had the answer to that question in the form of the ODSTs. He wanted to drop out of orbit in a tiny metal coffin, and then punch holes into monsters from the stars with a rifle that had a barrel that was long as he was tall. There was just something about the thrill of the lifestyle, as well as the odd sort of nobility of the extraordinarily dangerous job that appealed to him on a personal level.

At no point during his life however, did Nathan ever think that he would find himself in a position to be training other soldiers. And to that end, he had certainly never anticipated teaching what were effectively legitimized partisans wIth all-natural energy shields how to operate anti-tank weaponry. And yet, thanks to some officer who probably had more than a few leaks in their brain, that was exactly what he was doing.

 _Then again, the Headmaster must've offered up something good in exchange for us being here for a little while._ Nathan thought.

Whatever exchange of assets and favors that had presumably happened high up the chain of command was of little concern to him. Due to a shortage of personnel who were qualified to offer instruction to the Huntsmen and Huntresses in training at Beacon Academy, Onyx Team had been pressed into that duty for at least a few days. It kind of seemed like a waste of time to Nathan, but then, he wasn't an officer, so clearly he just didn't know what he was talking about.

Nathan and Yu had been assigned to help a team of first year students called "Juniper" or "JNPR" with their inability to defeat larger targets, especially from a long range. While Nathan was still trying to figure out exactly how he felt about the whole situation, Yu had immediately embraced her petty authority over the students, and was doing her best impression of a psychotic drill instructor as she taught them to operate a wire-guided anti-tank missile launcher.

"For the love of fucking god, do you have a deathwish or something?!" She demanded, dropping a verbal barrage onto team JNPR's leader, a blonde boy named Jaune. "That missile is meant to tear open tanks and cook the bastards inside, it is not a fucking toy! Do not drop those!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't touch the safety!" The poor boy tried to defend himself, but it was of little use.

Yu was very good at yelling, exceptional even. He'd never admit it to her face, but privately, Nathan admired her spirit… even if she was a bit of a bitch.

Jaune on the other hand, was something of an enigma to Nathan. On one hand, he seemed woefully unprepared to be the squad leader of his team. He wasn't particularly assertive or commanding, and it seemed like he didn't even know a lot of what he was meant to be doing as a leader. He also had a particularly bad case of the butterfingers, which Yu

On the other hand, he certainly had a strong fighting spirit, he was quite friendly and charismatic, and he seemed to be quite well liked by his team. Perhaps he was doing something right, but Nathan simply wasn't there to see it.

"Okay, let's do this properly!" Yu sternly shouted. "Ren, Nora, get that launcher set up!"

The two Huntsmen in training deployed the tripod and mount of the missile launcher with impressive efficiency. The Dominion was outfitted with enough infantry and support weapons to outfit a batallion, so sparing some of the older weapons in the ship's inventory for training purposes wasn't actually that much of a loss. It also helped that the Insurrection-Era Guided Missile Launchers were totally replaceable, thanks in large part to just how obsolete they were steadily becoming.

 _Obsolete or not, these things have more than enough impact to punch a person-sized hole through a Goliath._ Nathan thought. It was certainly a considerable upgrade to team JNPR's existing arsenal, although Nathan doubted that Commander Miller was actually going to give the weapon away, at least for free. _Maybe we could get some of that Steam Dust, I like the idea of shooting a guy with an instantly-deployable smokescreen._

While Ren and Nora worked at about half of the speed of a normal Marine crew, they worked with a gusto that was very impressive, especially considering that this was the first time they had ever operated such a weapon before. Nathan picked up on how they seemed to instinctively know what the other was doing without even working, clearly, these two had been working together for some time.

"Hmm, not bad, but I've seen better." Yu sourly commented as they finished assembling the launcher. "Butterfingers, load that missile, and don't throw it on the ground and get us all killed."

"I uh… Yes Sir!" Jaune replied.

He loaded the missile with the help of Nora and Ren, ensured that it was in the correct position, and closed the locking lugs to keep it in place.

 _Hmm, good instincts there._ Nathan thought as he leaned into Yu's ear to speak to her somewhat privately. "I can't help but notice you aren't correcting him."

She grinned at him maniacally. "I'm just glad that somebody finally appreciates my seniority, Private."

Nathan eyed the Corporal Pins on her BDU with annoyance. "Asshole."

"Dickhead." She quietly shot back, before turning her attention back to team JNPR. "Okay, Pyrrha, you're up! You remember how to run that targeting computer?"

The Red-haired woman gave a firm nod. "I believe so, just a moment."

Pyrrha was by far the most resounding member of team JNPR, and not just because she'd demonstrated a remarkable ability to floor Nathan's ass during a sparring match earlier. She was intelligent, had a good habit of keeping her mouth shut when others were speaking, and she was very adept at not asking stupid questions. If she had been born back in human space, she would have probably been an absolutely stellar Helljumper.

She also looked pretty much identical to Fairfire, so that made it really difficult to not just see a younger Elizabeth every time that Nathan looked at her.

 _I wonder how she's faring?_ Nathan thought. He knew that Fairfire and Ben were helping another Huntsmen Team, CRDL, if he remembered correctly, sharpen up their CQC skills. Ben had been somewhat reluctant to participate in the exercise, arguing that even with their Auras, there was a real possibility that he could accidentally kill or injure the members of CRDL. Given that Ben's comment prompted cheering and encouragement from some of the other nearby students, Nathan concluded that CRDL probably wasn't all that popular.

"I believe that I have a lock on the target." Pyrrha announced. Yu leaned over her shoulder and examined the firing computer, and gave a nod of satisfaction at Pyrrha's work.

About two kilometers away in the depths of the Emerald Forest, a cluster of decrepit training robots sat in a pile. They were not even worth scrapping, and so they were serving as a mock target for team JNPR's efforts. It was a fairly small target for such a weapon, but a challenge was perhaps exactly what the Huntsmen and Huntresses in training needed.

"Now, Nora, Ren, double-check the tripod. Butterfingers, clear the safeties! Pyrrha, run the pre-fire check on the targeting computer!" Yu instructed. "Remember, do not fire the weapon without our order!"

Typically when in the field, ODSTs and Marines would skip a number steps in the firing procedure, as to get their missile into the air quicker. Normally skipping safety protocol was universally a bad idea, but when facing the Covenant, speed had been a priority. But now that they were in a training environment, Nathan noticed that Yu was taking a great deal of care to make sure that team JNPR cleared the weapon to fire correctly.

Team JNPR had the weapon ready to fire in less than ten seconds, which was an improvement over the thirteen seconds it had taken them the previous time. When it was done, the team sat in the fire-ready positions that Nathan and Yu had instructed them in, intended to protect them from the loud firing sound.

"Hmm, not bad, not bad at all." Yu said, before Nathan watched her eyes go wide with rage. "Butterfingers! What in the name of god is that trigger discipline?! Do you intend to fire?!"

Jaune straightened up as soon as she spoke. "No ma'am!"

"Then why the hell was your finger on that trigger?!" Yu loudly demanded.

"Because… I uh…" Jaune began to reply, but quickly realized that he had no answer.

Yu grabbed him by the shoulder and gestured out at the forest before them as she pulled him in closer. "I want you to briefly imagine something really quickly here, alright Butterfingers? Let's assume that you and your team are working as part of a larger formation, and you've done the right thing and set up this launcher behind the main line of infantry and armor. Now let's assume you live up to your name and fire that missile by accident, tell me, is that missile going to hit the enemy, or is it going to directly impact a friendly tank, fry your allies, and earn you a spot in the brig?!"

Jaune's blood drained from his face. "But, what about the targeting computer? Wouldn't that stop the missile?"

Yu blinked blankly in disbelief before she gave him an evil grin. "You know what Butterfingers, that's an excellent point! I bet you the firing computer would absolutely recognize your friends, who by the way, don't have a UNSC IFF tag, meaning that to the firing computer they're just another thermal signature to track. But since you're so confident, how about you go stand in front of the launcher and prove your point?"

Nathan rolled his eyes at her antics. "Yu come on, don't make the kid pee himself. Besides, Ozpin said we're not allowed to do things the way we do them at home."

Yu sighed grumpily. "...Damn bureaucrats. Okay Butterfingers, how about we have you take over Ren's job with the tripod, and he can handle the firing mechanism."

Jaune nodded nervously. "That uh, sounds great! Ren has guns, I bet he's got loads of trigger discipline."

Nathan glanced over to Ren's weapons and grimaced, pistols with knives attached. While it was undeniably cool, he was willing to bet that Ren had probably torn more holes in his pants than everyone else in his team combined. He didn't even have sheaths for them, which seemed oddly reckless for a man who was otherwise fairly unfazed by everything. Then again, compared to the warhammer/grenade launcher hybrid that his partner used, it was a perfectly reasonable weapon.

 _Maybe having Ren control the firing mechanism isn't such a bad idea._ Nathan thought as he realized who the alternatives were. Pyrrha was needed to manage the targeting computer, and Nora… well, Nathan wasn't entirely sure if handing her the keys to such a gigantic weapon was really a good idea.

He'd already been an unwilling witness to her engaging another Huntsmen in training in a live-fire duel, and she had shown both impressive skill and concerning ruthlessness with how she used her warhammer/grenade launcher hybrid thing. Of all of the members of team JNPR, she was unquestionably the scariest.

"Sure thing. Uh… what do I do again?" Ren awkwardly asked as he and Jaune switched stations.

While Yu ran him through the firing procedure, Nathan overhead a brief exchange between Pyrrha and Jaune as they disassembled the tripod. Nathan decided to eavesdrop on the grounds that it sounded like the two Huntsmen in training were talking about Yu and himself.

"-I'm sure there's nothing to worry about." Pyrrha said. "They're soldiers, it's normal for them to be harsh during training."

Jaune sighed. "I know, it's just… I don't feel like I'm really contributing as much as I should be right now. I mean, I barely even know what this thing does!"

"Jaune, try to remember that this is an alien weapon, I think that's entirely reasonable." Pyrrha pointed out.

"It is reasonable." Nathan interjected.

Apparently neither Jaune or Pyrrha had been expecting him to be listening, which was odd, as they hadn't exactly been speaking quietly. But Jaune quickly relaxed himself from his defensive posture as he processed what Nathan had actually said.

"...You think so?" Jaune asked.

"Dude, on my first day of Sniper School in the Marines, I dislocated my own shoulder when I fired my rifle." Nathan said, earning a wince of sympathy from both Pyrrha and Jaune. "I'd say compared to me, you've been doing just fine."

While Jaune thought over his words, Pyrrha seemed to fixate on another detail in what Nathan had said. "How did you manage to dislocate your shoulder with recoil?"

"We were using a bunch of the older SRS99s, really high-caliber, and mine had a broken recoil-dampening system from the last guy who owned it." Nathan explained. "Couple that with a bad firing stance, and you've got yourself a visit to sickbay to get your shoulder put back in! Oh, hang on, I might have a picture here."

"I uh… I don't think I need to see that." Jaune somewhat squeamishly commented as Nathan brought out his datapad.

"The gun, not the injury." Nathan clarified. "And come on, a dislocated shoulder ain't that bad. You know, I got my Femur split in half when a Nevermore stuck a feather through my leg. The only reason I didn't bleed out is because the feather stopped me from bleeding."

Pyrrha and Jaune once again winced in sympathy. "Ow…"

"Yeah, I know right?" Nathan said. He was happy to have somebody empathize with his past injury. "Okay, here's the one I'm looking for."

The picture was of a young Nathan and a handful of other Marines who had attended the same class at Sniper School, all holding their rifles in various poses. He was struck by a faint wiff of nostalgia when he saw himself in Marine Battle Dress Uniform, even if he still heavily prefered his ODST BDU, he'd always like the Marine uniform. He only vaguely remembered the rest of the snipers-in-training, as they had been split into different units upon graduation.

"Woah." Jaune commented as his eyes widened. "Those guns are massive!"

"You carried those everywhere you went, without Aura?" Pyrrha asked with a note of admiration. "That must have been exhausting."

Nathan closed the datapad and put it back in its place. "I still do actually. Mags and Specialist Schnee haven't gotten around to teaching us how to use our Aura to carry more stuff, we're still working on the "not dying when you get shot" part of our Auras."

"That's very pragmatic of them." Jaune noted. "And uh, I wanted to ask about that actually. When you all fought the Schnee Dust Company, did you guys just… not have Aura? Like, at all?"

"We did during the later battles, but in the first few engagements, we didn't." Nathan answered. "That didn't stop us from winning though, even if it was a pretty nasty surprise when we first found out that pretty much everybody we were fighting had a personal bullet-resistant shield. It's a good thing that we're used to fighting guys like that."

"How do you fight them?" Pyrrha asked. "When you didn't have any Aura, how did you win?"

"The same way that we're teaching you actually, range." Nathan said as he patted the wire-guided missile launcher. "This bad boy can take out an alien tank at four kilometers, and it'll do it in one shot."

 _And we also had two Spartans and a Frigate loaded to kill._ Nathan privately added.

"Uh… Kilometers?" Jaune awkwardly asked.

 _Ah, right, they use a different measurement system._ Nathan remembered. Thankfully, he had a datapad to do the annoying math for him. "That's two and a half… miles?"

"Yeah, miles, that sounds about right." Jaune confirmed.

Nathan frowned, what a stupid word to describe range. "I can't wait until Curie gets your damn measurement system fixed. Your planet is nice, don't get me wrong, but man, whichever scientist came up with that nonsense should've really kept his day job."

Jaune awkwardly laughed. "Yeah uh, I never really got it either."

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "I thought that you were the Squad Leader? Does somebody else on your team handle navigation?"

Jaune scratched the back of his head nervously, prompting Pyrrha's interjection. "We haven't started studying that yet."

Nathan nodded, that made sense. "Well pay attention when you do, I failed LandNav like four goddamn times, and it was a pain in my ass each time."

"It was five!" Yu rudely interjected.

"Raunchy bitch!" Nathan retalitated.

"Arrogant Asshole!" Yu replied in kind.

Nathan chuckled at the expressions of surprise on Pyrrha and Jaune faces as Yu returned to instructing Ren how to fire the missile system.

"Do you… have some issues with her?" Jaune nervously asked.

"Nah, she's a grumpy bitch, but she's pretty great." Nathan answered. "Not really my type though."

"I heard that!" Yu interrupted again.

"You were meant to!" Nathan shot back, before turning back to team JNPR's leader. "But yeah, don't let her get you down. She's rough on everyone, but that's just how she is. Once you get to know her, she's not all that bad."

Jaune let out a sigh of relief. "Well, at least she doesn't have some kind of personal grudge against me."

 _Not yet._ Nathan somewhat less optimistically thought. Although thankfully for Jaune, Nathan and Yu probably wouldn't be sticking around Beacon long enough for any grudges to be developed.

"Nathan!" Yu interrupted them. "Skip the gossip and get the rest of JNPR in position! We're going to try this again!"

"You heard the lady, up and at em'." Nathan said.

Pyrrha and Jaune joined their teammates, and reassembled the weapon system in record time. And this time, Ren employed proper trigger discipline, much to everyone else's relief.

"Hmm, not bad." Nathan said. "What do you think, Corporal Sato?" He was still a bit bitter about how she had pulled the NCO card earlier, so he made sure to refer to her properly, but with more than a little sarcasm.

"Well it's an improvement but it's not hard to improve on garbage, run it again." Yu harshly answered.

While team JNPR did as they were instructed, Nathan leaned closer to Yu to speak to her privately. "Look, I get the whole attitude of instilling a sense of discipline… but we're only going to be here for a few days. Maybe we should make an effort to make a better impression."

"Better impressions don't save lives, being hard on them while they're training does." Yu argued, but thankfully she had the foresight to speak in a whisper. "Come on Nathan, you went through Helljumper School, you know just as well as I do why the instructors had to be so harsh. These kids wouldn't last five minutes against the Covenant!"

Nathan sighed, she had an annoyingly good point. "I know that, but we don't exactly have enough time to get their mindsets adjusted like that. Our training took months, not days."

Yu frowned, it seemed that for once, she was actually considering the validity of Nathan's arguments. "Then we should get whatever we can done with the time that we have."

"I'm not saying we don't do that… but maybe a bit of positive reinforcement couldn't hurt." Nathan suggested. "I'm not saying you go easy on them, I'm saying that maybe we should give them a bit of credit when they do make improvements."

"Uh, Corporal Sato… we've finished." Jaune awkwardly interrupted.

Yu and Nathan were both snapped back to the present. Yu took a step forward and inspected the weapon to ensure that it was assembled correctly. "Hmm… good, good. Pyrrha, did you acquire a lock on the target?"

"I did." Pyrrha reported. "Is something wrong?"

Yu shook her head. "I just wanted to double check what you have set up here. Lieutenant Jorge has allocated us some missiles for the sake of training, and we'll be live firing them until we run out or we hit the target."

Nathan raised an eyebrow. "I was under the impression we weren't meant to be using live warheads."

"Yeah well, that was before the Battalion Armorer realized that these things have like, maybe a week on their shelf life." Yu explained. "I never took you as the kind of guy to complain about getting to blow something up."

"Yeah well…" Nathan began to reply, but realized that this particular debate probably wasn't worth it, plus, blowing things up was cool. "Yeah okay. Hang on JNPR, I'll get you some ear protection."

That was one thing that Nathan simply could not comprehend about Remnant, it was that nobody wore ear protection in battle. Sure they had Auras to protect them from hearing damage, but it was still painful. More importantly in his eyes, if your Aura was broken, you were left completely defenseless against any kind of harmful sound. Thankfully, the armories of the Dominion had more than enough surplus hearing protection to spare, and even a bit of wax or a few cotton balls did wonders to help protect the ears in a fight. Once all of team JNPR had their hearing protection on, and a close call where Jaune had forgotten to actually activate the protective headset, Yu ran them through a proper firing procedure.

Firing an anti-tank missile out of a tripod mounted launcher had a lot of potential risks involved, including the gigantic wave of hot pressurized air that would shoot out of the back of the launcher one the missile fired. Backblast was something that apparently even most soldiers on Remnant didn't seem to know about, so Nathan wasn't surprised to learn that team JNPR had no idea what Yu was talking about.

"I uh… can't help but notice that this all sounds really dangerous." Jaune commented as Yu finished explaining just how badly somebody could be injured, or even killed by the launcher's backblast.

Yu planted a palm on her face in exasperation. "Yes, the missile launcher is dangerous, it is a weapon. It's just like how if you trip and fall on your sword, that's also dangerous. The point is to know what the risks are and how to avoid them."

Jaune looked down at the sword on his hip with a sudden sense of doubt as Pyrrha stood forward. "I suppose it does make sense, if you mistreat any weapon, it's very easy to get hurt."

Ren's gaze shifted awkwardly between his own weapons and the launcher. "I uh, yeah, it is."

"Let me guess, you've had to stitch up those pants a lot, haven't you?" Nathan somewhat smugly guessed.

"...Yeah." Ren confirmed as he awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

"Don't worry Jaune!" Nora said as she gave her squad leader a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "When I was first training with Magnhild, I broke some of my toes!"

"...That's not very reassuring." Jaune replied.

Yu crossed her arms across her chest. "Not to interrupt here, but I think maybe once you all see what this thing can do to the enemy, you'll have a bit more confidence."

"You heard the lady, assume firing positions!" Nathan shouted.

Team JNPR manned the launcher, thankfully without any issues in their positioning. Clearly, they had been paying attention to Yu's instructions. Nathan would be playing the part of a spotter, and he had brought along a set of rangefinders for that exact purpose.

"Target acquired! Enemy Drones bearing three-five-two, two kilometers out!" Nathan announced, doing his best to simulate how he would provide the information in a live combat scenario.

Pyrrha configured the targeting computer to lock onto the given target as Jaune and Nora loaded the missile, all while Ren removed the launcher's safety systems. As a true testament to how quickly they were learning, they had the launcher ready to fire within fifteen seconds, not bad at all for people who had no prior training.

"Target locked!" Pyrrha announced.

 _Christ, she even sounds like Fairfire… well, a younger version of her anyway._ Nathan thought.

Jaune quickly double-checked the space behind the launcher. "Backblast clear!"

"Fire!" Yu ordered.

Ren triggered the firing mechanism, and immediately a rod of metal and fire emerged from the front of the launcher with a deafening roar. A gale of harsh and hot wind was sent in every direction by the force of the missile's heat, which passed quite quickly given how windy it was. As nobody was standing in the backblast radius of the launcher, they were all able to avoid being scorched.

Nathan watched as the missile careerned towards its target, and grimaced as he saw that the missile was starting to veer slightly off course. Whether it was a faulty stabilizing fin, an issue with the computer built into the missile, or simply the age of the propellant within, something had caused a slight fault in the weapon's accuracy, and Nathan could tell it wasn't going to hit the target.

 _That's not on JNPR, they did just fine._ Nathan thought.

Then, unexpectedly, the missile turned back towards the target, almost as if it had momentarily forgotten where it was meant to be going and suddenly remembered. The turn was very sharp, indicating that perhaps the missile had somehow managed to fix whatever had broken. A moment later, the missile landed in the cluster of decrepit training robots with a satisfying explosion. A moment later, Nathan heard the telltale thud of the shaped charge detonation, followed by the sound of the explosion itself.

Team JNPR let out a victorious cheer as Nathan glanced at Yu, trying to silently convey whether she had noticed the oddity with the missile as well. He noticed that she was giving him a similar glance, confirming that the anomaly hadn't simply been an oddity with his vision.

"What the hell was that?" Yu asked as she approached him. "Have you ever seen a missile do that kind of turn?"

"I haven't, but I'm not a small arms repairman, so I don't see all that many missiles mid-flight." Nathan answered.

Yu hummed. "Huh, weird. Either way, I guess the kids nailed it."

"I'm so proud of them." Nathan jokingly commented. Despite his sarcastic response, he was quite pleasantly surprised by how well their little instruction session had gone.

 _Either I'm more cut out for instruction than I realized, or those kids are a lot more capable in a fight than they look._ Nathan thought.

"Okay JNPR, settle down!" Yu interrupted the team's celebrations, catching Nora just before she could tackle Ren with a bear hug. Then again, given the enthusiasm that she brought to the table, it was more like a hug from an unusually friendly Brute Chieftain. "Nora, please, ease up a bit, you're freaking me out here."

Nora gave a concerning chuckle as team JNPR gathered around Nathan and Yu. "Needless to say, you all did… good."

 _I see that she's better at being an evil drill instructor than positive reinforcement._ Nathan thought with no small amount of amusement. He gave her a friendly elbow in the side and put on his best shit-eating grin. "You're doing great."

"Shut up asshole." She shot back at his teasing. "Anyhow, we've still got the rest of those missiles, but seeing as you hit the only target… I think that's going to conclude our lesson for now. Fine work kids."

"That was awesome! How did you make the explosion so big?" Nora asked.

"It was… much larger than I was expecting." Pyrrha added.

Nathan shrugged. "I'm a Marksman, not an Engineer, so I can't really tell you. But I do enjoy getting to use them."

"I can certainly see why, you weren't kidding when you said you could kill a tank with this!" Jaune said with a wide smile.

Yu rolled her eyes. "Not to insult your vast intelligence Butterfingers, but why do you think we call it an Anti-Tank Missile?"

"I… Yeah, fair point." Jaune awkwardly said.

"Now then, me and Nathan can pack this thing up. You go find your Headmaster and give him the good news." Yu instructed.

"Yes Ma'am!" Jaune said, snapping to a really bad salute in the process.

Team JNPR left without any further comment, presumably they would have more classes to attend to after they talked to Ozpin, and Nathan realized it was quite unlikely that he would see them again.

"You know, from what Ben said, I expected this place to be more…" Nathan trailed off.

"Chaotic? Yeah, I know." Yu finished his thought. "Everything around here seems pretty calm."

"I mean, don't get wrong, the idea of these kids running around with missile launchers and soulbound energy shields is… concerning." Nathan said. "But they're not nearly as bad as I expected them to be."

Yu shrugged. "Maybe we just got paired up with some of the good ones?"

"Perhaps." Nathan said. "Right, let's go see how Ben and Fairfire did. I bet they only broke a few bones."

"Are you fucking kidding me? Twenty credits says that Lunatic put one of those kids into critical condition, or you know, killed em'." Yu somewhat distastefully replied.

Nathan was slightly confused. "When you say Lunatic, do you mean Fairfire or Ben?"

"I dunno, I guess you get to decide." Yu said as she slung the last of the missile parts over her shoulder. "Come on, let's get going."


End file.
